Stuart Aronson Joins H.I.G. Capital as Head of U.S. Direct Lending
MIAMI – February 17, 2016 – H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global alternative asset firm with $19 billion of equity capital under management*, is pleased to announce that Stuart Aronson, former Head of GE Capital’s Sponsor Finance Group (GSF), has joined H.I.G. WhiteHorse as Group Head of its U.S. Direct Lending team. Aronson served as the President and CEO of GSF and was an Officer of the General Electric Company. From 2010 to 2015, GSF was the leading provider of debt financing to U.S. sponsor middle market companies.
H.I.G. WhiteHorse is a provider of customized financing solutions to performing small and middle market companies including senior secured loans, unitranche loans, second lien loans and structured equity. Also joining H.I.G. WhiteHorse are several senior originators from GE Capital, including James Kenefick who served as the GE Antares’ Head of West Coast Sponsor Finance, Mark Bernier who served as GE Sponsor Finance’s Head of Telecom and Technology and Gina Provenzale who provided sponsor coverage for GE Antares. They will be joining H.I.G. WhiteHorse’s team of 33 dedicated investment professionals, globally.
Sami Mnaymneh and Tony Tamer, Co-CEO’s of H.I.G., commented: “We are delighted to welcome Stuart and his team to H.I.G. They bring an enviable record of success, especially in the sponsor community, where they have built deep relationships based on flexibility, responsiveness, and a long-term orientation. We are confident that they will make a significant contribution to growing H.I.G.’s direct lending activities.”
About H.I.G. WhiteHorse
H.I.G. WhiteHorse is the credit affiliate of H.I.G., which manages approximately $9 billion of credit assets. H.I.G. WhiteHorse provides debt financing to small and middle market companies in the U.S. and Europe. H.I.G. WhiteHorse has a broad investment mandate and provides tailored debt solutions across the capital structure for refinancings, growth capital, acquisitions, buyouts, and balance sheet recapitalizations. H.I.G. WhiteHorse is a partner of choice for its portfolio companies, providing unique value-add by utilizing H.I.G.’s industry expertise across the platform.
H.I.G. WhiteHorse brings capital, expertise, speed of execution and creativity to successfully complete complex transactions. H.I.G. WhiteHorse professionals have extensive experience and a proven track record of providing creative financing structures and employing a long term relationship oriented portfolio management philosophy. With a large team of dedicated investment professionals across the U.S. and Europe, H.I.G. WhiteHorse brings unmatched resources to address the growing opportunity for private debt solutions to small and middle market companies across a broad range of industries, including business services, manufacturing, healthcare, retail, food/agriculture and specialty finance.
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global alternative assets investment firm with $19 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:
- H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
- H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
- Other H.I.G. funds invest in various real assets, including real estate and shipping.
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm's current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $30 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.hig.com.
* Based on total capital commitments to funds managed by H.I.G. Capital and its affiliates.