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Private Equity and Leveraged Buyout Firms

Firm descriptions are from firm websites. Most firms have many more offices than are listed here. Go to firm websites for additional locations.

American Capital Strategies

American Capital is an equity partner in management and employee buyouts; provides mezzanine and senior debt financing for buyouts led by private equity firms; and provides capital directly to private and small public companies. The company provides senior and subordinated debt and equity. Capital is available for buyouts, growth, acquisitions and recapitalizations. As a public company, we have no fixed time time horizon for our investments, allowing us to enter into long-term commitments. We can provide capital for add-on acquisitions that help build value after the initial closing. Our ability to invest senior debt, subordinated debt and equity allows us to provide one-stop financing up to $50 million and dramatically reduce the financing risk associated with a transaction, benefiting both sellers and intermediaries. Our track record of closing transactions speaks for itself.

American Capital, 2 Bethesda Metro Center, 14th Floor, Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 951-6122(301) 654-6714

Apollo Management

Apollo Management, the New York private equity firm headed by financier Leon Black, has mined the public stock market to raise a new $930 million, debt-financing vehicle for middle-market companies. Until now, Apollo, a prominent, 13-year-old buyout sponsor and distressed-securities specialist, has drawn its capital through private placements with institutional investors such as pension funds.

Over time Apollo has drummed up $13.2 billion to deploy in LBOs, corporate reorganizations and real estate. It raised its latest flagship LBO pool, the $3.8 billion Apollo Investment Fund V LP, in 2002.

1301 Avenue of The Americas Floor 38, New York, NY 10019
(212) 333-4020

Bain Capital

The mission at Bain Capital is to produce superior investment returns for our investors. To accomplish this, Bain Capital follows three fundamental principles that have driven the excellence of the firm for close to 20 years: a high-performance culture, value-added approach to investing, and leveraging our institutional advantages. Our adherence to these principles has enabled Bain Capital to attract and retain some of the industry's most talented investment specialists, and to consistently generate industry-leading returns. Since its inception in 1984, Bain Capital has completed over 200 equity investments. The aggregate transaction value of these investments exceeds $17 billion. Bain Capital is proud of the many companies we have helped build in partnership with our portfolio company management teams. These companies not only span a range of Industries, and Stages of development, but also have had varied in the kind of capital required to achieve their strategic objectives.

745 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10151

Phone:(212) 326-9420Fax:(212) 421-2225

The Blackstone Group.

This firm was founded in 1985 by chairman Peter Peterson and CEO Stephen Schwarzman, it is one of the top US private investment firms. The company owns more than 13 million sq. ft. of real estate in Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC; as well as the Savoy Group of Hotels in London. Blackstone Group started as an M&A firm and began raising investment funds in the late 1980s. Its capable restructuring business has landed such bankrupt behemoth clients as Enron and Global Crossing. The company's Blackstone Alternative Asset Management unit handles a $1 billion in hedge funds for pension giant CalPERS; it is considering buying TRW's auto parts business.

Address: 345 Park Ave., New York, NY 10154

Phone:212-583-5000 Fax:212-583-5712

The Carlyle Group

Established in 1987, The Carlyle Group is a private global investment firm that originates, structures and acts as lead equity investor in management-led buyouts, strategic minority equity investments, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, and growth capital financings.

1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 220 South, Washington, DC 20004-2505
Phone:202 347 2626Fax:202 347

Cerberus Capital Management

Named after a three-headed dog that guards the gates of hell, Cerberus Capital Management's investment strategy is to keep companies from flaming out. Holdings include a 49% stake in Japanese bank Aozora, US tech firms ICG Communications and SSA Global Technologies, and cable operator Galaxy Cable. The firm often injects capital into retail ventures -- struggling music retailer Wherehouse Entertainment was a former investment, as was beleaguered fashion house Esprit de Corp (now known as Esprit Holdings). More recently, subsidiary Riley Property acquired real estate services firm LNR Property, and Cerberus paid about $2.3 billion for MeadWestvaco's paper business, forming NewPage Corporation.

299 Park Ave., New York, NY 10171

Phone: 212-891-2100Fax: 212-891-1540

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

This firm specializes in turnaround situations. Targeting underachieving units of large corporations, the company typically structures an LBO and works to improve operations. The firm's numerous partners, made up of former CEOs, CFOs, or COOs (and including ex-GE CEO Jack Welch), have a reputation as hands-on managers of the buys they oversee. Since it was formed in 1978, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has invested some $2.5 billion in more than 30 deals, many of them in the technology and industrial sectors. The company has also taken a keen interest in investments in Germany, Italy, and the UK. It sold foodservice products distributor Alliant Exchange to Dutch retail giant Royal Ahold.

Address:375 Park Ave., New York, NY 10152

Phone: 212-407-5200 Fax: 212-407-5252

Crestview Partners

Founded in 2004, Crestview Partners is a private equity firm with a contrarian orientation focused on the middle market. Crestview is led by a group of partners and leaders in the private equity business, media business and former senior management of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. We are value-oriented investors with a prudent and disciplined approach to risk. Crestview has approximately $4 billion under management. We target $100-250 million equity investments in companies with enterprise values up to $3 billion. Crestview currently manages two private equity fund complexes. Fund I was launched in 2004/2005 with approximately $1.5 billion in capital commitments and is fully invested in 11 companies. Fund II was launched in November 2007 and has $2.4 billion in capital commitments and 10 investments to date.

Crestview Partners
667 Madison Avenue, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10065
Tel: (212) 906-0700

Equity Group Investments

This firm is the apex of financier Sam Zell's pyramid of business holdings. The Chicago-based private investment group controls a multi-billion dollar mix of businesses, including real estate investment trusts (REITs), restaurants, and cruise ships. Zell's REIT portfolio makes him the US's largest owner of property leased by manufactured homeowners

(Manufactured Home Communities), office buildings (Equity Office Properties Trust), and apartments (Equity Residential Properties Trust). Sam Zell has a controlling interest in Equity Group Investments.

Address: 2 N. Riverside Plaza, Ste. 600 Chicago, IL 60606

Phone: 312-454-1800 Fax: 312-454-0610

Evercore Capital Partners (ECP)

EPC is a $1.2 billion private equity partnership funded by prominent U.S. and international investors, including corporate pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, investment trusts, banks and families. ECP makes private equity investments in established businesses, and has differentiated itself by its ability to use Evercore’s extensive relationship network to originate opportunities and to help build value in portfolio companies. ECP’s investment guidelines are broad and flexible. We typically seek investments whose total enterprise value is at least $100 million, and have completed transactions that exceed $1.5 billion in value, in partnership with co-investors.

65 East 55th Street, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10022

Phone:212-857-3100Fax:212-857-3101

Forstmann Little & Co

Don't let the "Little" fool you: buyout firm Forstmann Little & Co. has been home to some big names. The firm, which specializes in telecommunications, technology, education, and health care investments, counts among its former advisory board members Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, and George Shultz and Henry Kissinger. Since it’s founding in 1978, Forstmann Little has invested more than $10 billion in about 30 companies. It is led by the surviving founding group member, Ted Forstmann; Nicholas Forstmann died in 2001, and William Little died in 2000. Connecticut is suing Forstmann Little & Co. to recover state retirement money it claims the firm invested recklessly.

Address: 767 5th Ave., New York, NY 10153

Phone:212-355-5656 Fax:212-759-9059

Greenhill Capital Partners, LLC

Greenhill Capital manages several private equity funds with an aggregate of $1.3 billion in committed capital, focusing on the financial services, energy and telecommunications industries. Its publicly traded portfolio companies include: Global Signal Inc., Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. and Hercules Offshore, Inc. Greenhill Capital is an affiliate of Greenhill & Co., Inc. , an independent global investment banking firm with offices in New York, London, Frankfurt, Toronto and Dallas. For more information about Greenhill Capital, please visit

Greenhill conducts interviews at a limited number of U.S. graduate business schools. Interviews for full-time positions are generally conducted in November, while interviews for summer positions typically take place in February and March. If we do not recruit at your school, please submit a cover letter and resume to the New York office at . We will contact you if interested.

Greenhill & Co.+1 212-389-1500 Tel
300 Park Avenue+1 212-389-1700 Fax
New York NY10022
United States of America

Gryphon

Gryphon is a well-respected private equity firm focused on making $25 million to $75 million equity or equity-linked investments in the middle market. We have over $700 million of capital under management, a blue-chip cast of limited partners, and have executed over 50 middle market equity transactions since our founding in 1995.

Gryphon InvestorsPhone: 415-217-7400
One Market PlazaFax: 415-217-7447
Steuart
24th Floor
San Francisco, California 94105

HarbourVest Partners, LLC

HarbourVest Partners is a global private equity investment firm. It was founded in 1997 to provide institutional investors with a vehicle through which to invest in venture capital and other private equity partnerships as well as directly into operating companies. HarbourVest invests in all types of private equity funds, including venture capital and leveraged buyout funds, and also directly in operating companies. HarbourVest currently manages investments in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.

The firm's clients include more than 200 pension funds, endowments, foundations, and financial institutions from the U.S., Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan that have committed capital of about $11 billion. During its 20-year history of investing, the HarbourVest team has committed $7.9 billion to 200 managers of private equity funds on a primary basis, completed $1.3 billion in 210 purchases of secondary partnership interests, and invested $1.9 billion directly in operating companies.

Since 1982, the management of HarbourVest has formed six major investment programs to invest in the United States, the most recent being HarbourVest Partners VI, a $4.6 billion investment program formed in 1999 to invest in partnerships, buyout partnerships, and direct investment opportunities. This fund is currently in an active investment mode.

One Financial Center, 44th Floor, Boston, MA 02111
Phone: (617) 348-3707Fax: (617) 350-0305

Hellman & Friedman, LLC

Hellman & Friedman LLC, founded in 1984, is a private equity investment firm with offices located in San Francisco, London, and New York. We raised our first institutional private equity fund in 1987. During our 18-year investing history, we have raised and managed over $8 billion of committed capital and have invested in over 50 companies. We are currently investing our fifth fund, Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners V, L.P. (HFCP V), with $3.5 billion of committed capital, which was activated in August 2004.

Our objective is to invest long-term equity capital to support the strategic and financial objectives of outstanding management teams operating businesses with defensible positions in growing markets. Over our lifetime, we have distinguished ourselves as a flexible source of capital and a value-added partner.

Our team consists of 30 investment professionals, including 13 managing directors with an average tenure with the Firm of 12 years. This allows us to spend substantial time working with the companies in which we invest.

Limited partner investors in our funds include many of the largest U.S. and international corporate pension funds, U.S. state pension funds, university endowments and foundations. And, in HFCP V, we (the partners of the firm) collectively are one of the largest limited partners.

Hellman & Friedman LLC Hellman & Friedman LLC

One Maritime Plaza, 12th Floor375 Park Avenue, 20th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111New York, NY 10152

Phone (415) 788-5111Phone (212) 871-6680

Facsimile (415) 788-0176 Facsimile (212) 871-6688

Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst

This company creates investment pools in the form of limited partnerships. Investors are mostly pension funds but also include financial institutions and wealthy private investors. The leveraged buyout firm assembles limited partnership investment pools, targets underperforming companies in specific niches, builds them up, and uses them to form a nucleus for other investments. Hicks, Muse also has holdings in manufacturing and real estate.

Address: 200 Crescent Ct., Ste. 1600, Dallas, TX 75201

Phone:214-740-7300 Fax:214-720-7888

H.I.G. Private Equity

H.I.G. isa leading global private equity firm focused on management buyouts and recapitalizations of leading middle market companies as well as growth equity investments. With more than $10 billion of equity capital under management and over 225 investment professionals, we are dedicated to using our in-house operating expertise to help talented management teams and entrepreneurs build companies of significant value. We work closely with our portfolio companies and provide capital, operating and strategic expertise, and a network of strategic industry contacts to help them become industry leaders. We are currently a significant investor in over seventy companies in the U.S. and Europe in a diverse range of industries, with combined annual revenues in excess of $8 billion.

600 Fifth Avenue
24th Floor
New York, NY 10020
Phone: (212) 506-0500

Fax: (212) 506-0559,

Insight Equity

Insight Equity II LP (“Insight Equity”), the Dallas, is a Texas-area headquartered private equity firm.Our focus on making equity investments in niche, strategically viable, automotive manufacturing suppliers that exhibit compelling growth potential. Our ability to facilitate an innovative structure and quickly close this complex merger demonstrates the firm’s ability to deploy creative solutions in challenging situations across North America.

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Ted Beneski
CEO & Managing Partner

Victor Vescovo
COO & Managing Partner

Eliot Kerlin
Principal

Chris Zugaro
Principal

Andrew Boisseau
Senior Vice President

Brad Buser
Vice President

Jack Waterstreet
Vice President

Kurt Didier
Vice President

James Jackson
Vice President

Rob Conner
General Counsel

Kevin Slaton
Controller

Joe McKie
Associate

David Stinnett
Associate

Blake Bonner
Analyst

Evan Stuller
Analyst

Daniel Davidson
Analyst

Neal Jain
Analyst

Felicia Hardwick
Marketing & Resources Manager

Tiffany Dixon
Legal & Administrative Coordinator

Brecht Allred
Private Equity Coordinator

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J.P. Morgan Partners, LLC

J.P. Morgan Partners, LLC ("JPMP") is a leading private equity organization. Its primary goal is to build a diversified portfolio of investments in middle-market buyouts, growth equity and venture in the United States and Europe, and across its five core industry segments. JPMP complements this strategy with focused efforts in emerging markets in Latin America and Asia. Gluing this strategy together is the global integrated network, which enables JPMP to draw on expert resources residing within JP Morgan Chase, its extensive portfolio, and worldwide contact network to source attractive opportunities and manage its investments.
As of September 30, 2004, JPMP has approximately $13 billion in capital under management. With approximately 120 investment professionals, JPMP invests globally through nine principal offices. Since its inception in 1984, JPMP has closed more than 1,300 individual transactions. JPMP's diversified portfolio includes board seats in over 300 companies.
JPMorgan Partners is the private equity arm of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.1 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. Other prominent institutions and individuals are also investors in JPMP.

1221 Avenue of the Americas50 California Street 29th Floor

New York, NY 10020San Francisco, CA 94111

(212) 899-3400 Fax: (212) 899-3401(415) 591-1200 Fax: (415) 591-1205

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts

This firm, popularly known as KKR, has shed its hostile takeover image for a kinder, gentler, buy-and-build strategy. KKR assembles funds to buy low and sell high. An active investor, the firm supervises or installs new management and revamps strategy and corporate structure, selling underperforming units or adding new ones. KKR profits not only from its direct interest in these companies but also from fund and company management fees.

Address: 9 W. 57th St., Ste. 4200, New York, NY 10019

Phone:212-750-8300 Fax:212-750-0003

Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.

Lehman Brothers is a lean, mean, investment banking machine. One of the top bulge-bracket firms, the company is perennially among the industry leaders in mergers and acquisition advice and financing; it also boasts significant debt and equity underwriting, restructuring advisory, and private equity operations. Capital markets activities (its largest segment) entail institutional brokerage, market making, equity research, securities lending, mortgage banking, and real estate investment. Its asset management business, which oversees more than $135 billion for clients, includes private banking, trust services, and Neuberger Berman. Employees and management own about a third of Lehman Brothers.

745 7th Ave., New York, NY 10019(Map)

Phone: 212-526-7000Fax: 212-526-8766Toll Free: 800-666-2388

LLR Partners Inc.

LLR is a $620 million private equity firm that provides capital to middle market growth companies with proven business models in a broad range of industries, including financial, healthcare, software and business services. LLR is flexible in its approach, investing up to $50 million, taking minority or control positions and leading transactions ranging from expansion and growth capital to recapitalizations and buyouts. LLR creates value beyond its capital contribution by partnering with existing management and providing advice and access to its extensive business network. For more information about LLR, please visit