Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. is an American

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

firm based in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

investing in middle market growth companies across financial technology and services, healthcare and technology & business solutions.

History

Founded in 1974 by its namesake Thomas H. Lee, Thomas H. Lee Partners, often referenced as THL, has raised approximately $34 billion of equity capital, investing in more than 160 companies, and has completed more than 500 add-on acquisitions representing an aggregate enterprise value at acquisition of over $210 billion. In 2021, Private Equity International ranked THL Partners 82nd of the top 300 private equity firms based on funds raised. THL’s Management Committee includes Co-CEOs Todd Abbrecht and Scott Sperling, Chairman Tony DiNovi and Managing Director Tom Hagerty. The firm's namesake, Thomas H. Lee, left the firm and formed Lee Equity Partners in 2006.

Investments

The firm has raised over $30 billion since inception and is currently investing out of its $5.6 billion ninth fund: * 1984 - Fund I ($66 million) * 1989 - Fund II ($568 million) * 1996 - Fund III ($1.4 billion) * 1998 - Fund IV ($3.5 billion) * 2001 - Fund V ($6.1 billion) * 2006 - Fund VI ($8.1 billion) * 2016 - Fund VII ($2.6 billion) * 2019 - Fund VIII ($3.59 billion) * 2022 - Fund IX ($5.6 billion)

Other Funds

* 2019 – Continuation Fund I ($867 million) * 2020 – Continuation Fund II ($916 million) * 2021 – Automation Fund ($900 million) ''Source
Thomas H. Lee website
' Notable transactions sponsored by THL include AbacusNext, Aramark, AutoStore, Brooks Automation,

Ceridian Ceridian HCM is an American provider of human resources software and services with employees in the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and Mauritius. It is a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. History Ceridian is a descenda ...

, CSafe Global,

Dunkin' Brands Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. was an American restaurant holding company which ran three chains of fast-food restaurants: Dunkin' Donuts, Mister Donut, and Baskin-Robbins. It was headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts. History Allied-Lyons In 197 ...

, Experian, Fidelity National Information Services, FourKites, Hightower Advisors, HomeSide Lending,

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

, Syneos Health, Michael Foods,

The Nielsen Company Nielsen Holdings plc is an American information, data and market measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 44,000 people worldwide. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and us ...

ProSiebenSat.1 ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE (officially abbreviated as P7S1, formerly ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG) is a German mass media & digital company. It operates in three segments: Entertainment, Dating and Commerce & Ventures. The company is listed on the Fran ...

, Smile Doctors, Snapple, Warner Chilcott,

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

, and West Corporation.

Refco

In 2004, THL completed a leveraged buyout acquisition of

Refco Refco was a New York City-based financial services company, primarily known as a broker of commodities and futures contracts. It was founded in 1969 by Raymond Earl Friedman as Ray E. Friedman and Co. Prior to its collapse in October, 2005, the ...

, a

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...

company specializing in

commodities In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them. The price of a co ...

and

futures Futures may mean: Finance *Futures contract, a tradable financial derivatives contract *Futures exchange, a financial market where futures contracts are traded * ''Futures'' (magazine), an American finance magazine Music * ''Futures'' (album), a ...

contracts, which collapsed suddenly in October 2005 only months after its IPO. Refco's collapse cost investors more than $1 billion and sparked multiple suits for negligence against the firm. THL in turn sued Refco's auditors and former executives claiming they hid the fraud which caused Refco's collapse. THL has since settled all claims by Refco’s brokerage customers, bankruptcy trustee and shareholders.

Art Van

In March 2020, the THL-owned furniture retailer Art Van Furniture filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was forced to end its going-out-of-business sales two days after they were approved due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United States, it has resulted in confir ...

. While Art Van wanted to pay employee wages and health care obligations, the company as a debtor-in-possession could not choose to pay employees at the expense of creditors without a court order. THL subsequently established a 'Hardship Fund' for former employees. THL seeded the fund with an initial donation of $1 million and also pledged to match up to another $1 million in outside donations. In March 2021, THL funded its full matching commitment, resulting in relief payments of approximately $1,200 per former employee.

Affiliates

THL's past affiliates include: THL Credit Advisors acquired in 2020 by First Eagle Investment Managed, provided junior debt to middle-market companies seeking capital for growth, acquisition, recapitalization and/or change of control. In July 2020, THL Credit changed its name to First Eagle Alternative Capital BDC, Inc. TH Lee Putnam Ventures is a technology-focused private equity firm affiliated with THL and

Putnam Investments Putnam Investments is a privately owned investment management firm founded in 1937 by George Putnam, who established one of the first balanced mutual funds, The George Putnam Fund of Boston. As one of the oldest mutual fund complexes in the Unite ...

, a leading global

money management Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institut ...

firm. TH Lee Putnam Ventures manages $1.1 billion in capital commitments and has invested approximately $850 million in more than 43 companies since the firm's formation in 1999.TH Lee
Thlpv.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-16.

Notes

External links

*

(FundingUniverse.com, from International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 24. St. James Press, 1999.)

(New York Times, 2008) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Thomas H. Partners Financial services companies of the United States Private equity firms of the United States Companies based in Boston American companies established in 1974 Financial services companies established in 1974 1974 establishments in Massachusetts