#USA #H.I.G. Capital #Miami #Investment Firm #growth capital

H.I.G. Capital Launches GP Solutions Platform

H.I.G. Capital, a prominent global alternative investment firm with a staggering $70 billion in assets under management, has officially unveiled its new GP Solutions Platform. This strategic initiative marks a significant enhancement of the firm’s capabilities and underscores its commitment to servicing the underserved middle market. The platform is designed to provide customized liquidity solutions and strategic capital, leveraging H.I.G.'s 32-year legacy of delivering innovative solutions tailored to the middle market's unique demands.

In fortifying this initiative, H.I.G. has successfully recruited a highly experienced team from Morgan Stanley Private Equity. This seasoned group is set to join H.I.G. later this year to spearhead the firm's secondaries fund. The team will be led by Managing Director Dan Wieder, along with Managing Director Yash Gupta and Principals Austin Gerber and Joe Holleran. Collectively, they bring a wealth of experience and a proven track record in the investment sphere, focusing primarily on creating value and generating impressive returns. Their expertise will be crucial in developing a differentiated platform centered on GP-led transactions, a sector witnessing rapid expansion due to increasing demand for liquidity solutions within the private equity landscape.

Rick Rosen, Co-President of H.I.G. Capital, expressed enthusiasm about the new team joining H.I.G., stating, “We are thrilled to welcome Dan and this seasoned team to H.I.G. Their collective expertise, proven investment acumen, and entrepreneurial mindset are highly complementary to our platform. We believe our secondaries effort will be an exciting and scalable business over the coming years, aligning seamlessly with our middle market, value-add investment strategy.”

The focus of the new fund will be executing secondary transactions that grant investors access to high-quality, mature assets with shorter durations when compared to traditional primary funds. This fund will target GP-led opportunities across various geographies, sectors, and strategies, benefitting from H.I.G.'s extensive investment resources, which include an expansive middle market origination network and rigorous underwriting capabilities. The firm aims to provide attractive, risk-adjusted returns by capitalizing on its global platform alongside proven operational expertise and extensive sector knowledge.

Since its establishment in 1993, H.I.G. Capital has invested in and managed over 400 companies worldwide. Their current portfolio encompasses more than 100 companies, which together boast sales exceeding $53 billion. H.I.G.'s investment strategy focuses on supplying both debt and equity capital to middle-market companies, embracing a flexible, operations-oriented, and value-added approach. The firm's equity funds, for instance, invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate carve-outs of both profitable and underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.

Furthermore, H.I.G.'s debt funds engage in senior, unitranche, and junior debt financing for companies across the spectrum, both for direct origination as well as in secondary markets. They also manage a publicly traded business development company named WhiteHorse Finance, alongside real estate funds focused on value-added property investments and H.I.G. Infrastructure that emphasizes value-added and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

In summary, with the launch of the GP Solutions Platform, H.I.G. Capital is not just expanding its operational framework but is also setting the stage for a new wave of investment strategies dedicated to supporting the growth of middle market companies. This initiative heralds a refreshing approach to addressing capital needs in a market that has historically been underserved, promising collaborative opportunities that resonate well across the investment community.