Lone Star Funds, legal name of main entity Lone Star Global Acquisitions, Ltd. is a global

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

that invests in corporate equity, real estate,

credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt) ...

, and other financial assets. The founder of Lone Star established its first fund in 1995 (under a different name) and Lone Star has to date organized 25 private equity funds with total capital commitments since inception of over $95 billion (as of 2024). Lone Star's investors include corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, university endowments, foundations, fund of funds and high-net-worth individuals. Lone Star Funds has affiliate offices in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Hudson Advisors LP, an approximately 900-person global asset management company owned and controlled by the founder of Lone Star, performs due diligence and analysis, asset management and related services for Lone Star Funds. In this capacity, Hudson Advisors LP has managed in excess of $260 billion of assets for Lone Star Funds since inception.

History

Lone Star was founded by John Grayken. From 1993 to 1995, Mr. Grayken was chairman and CEO of Brazos Partners L.P., a joint venture between the Robert M. Bass Group and the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a State-owned enterprises of the United States, United States government corporation supplying deposit insurance to depositors in American commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was cr ...

, that resolved approximately 1,300 “bad bank” assets resulting from the U.S.

savings and loan crisis The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s (commonly dubbed the S&L crisis) was the failure of approximately a third of the savings and loan associations (S&Ls or thrifts) in the United States between 1986 and 1995. These thrifts were b ...

in the early ‘90s. During this period, Brazos Advisors LLC was formed to provide asset-management and related services to Brazos Partners. Following Brazos Partners, Grayken organized institutional capital to continue investing in distressed assets, closing Brazos Fund, L.P. in 1995 with approximately $250 million of capital commitments. Lone Star Opportunity Fund, L.P. followed in 1996, with approximately $396 million of capital commitments. At that time Brazos Advisors, LLC was renamed Hudson Advisors LLC. After an expansion into Canada in 1995 and 1996, Grayken pursued the launch of a global platform for Lone Star in 1997. Since then, Lone Star has invested extensively in North America, Europe and East Asia. Lone Star invested primarily in East Asia, including Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan, following the

1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...

. In the mid-2000s, following the establishment of the Eurozone, Lone Star increased its investment focus in Europe. Since the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, Lone Star has invested in the U.S. Through its credit affiliate, LStar Capital (officially LSC Film Corporation), the company entered the motion picture financing sector when they signed a $200 million deal with

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

in early 2014. The deal gives them a financial stake in nearly all of Sony's upcoming films. However, due to the poor box-office performance of Sony's movies, the two firms severed ties on July 17, 2017, two years before the deal was set to end. In July 2015, Lone Star acquired the UK property investment and development company Quintain for £700 million. In March 2017, the Portuguese Central Bank announced that Lone Star Funds will acquire 75% of third largest Portuguese bank, Novo Banco, in return for a capital injection of €1bn. The other 25% will be retained by the Portuguese bank's resolution fund. In October 2017 the deal was closed and Lone Star Funds started controlling 75% of Novo Banco.

Investments

Lone Star invests in a variety of asset classes, primarily asset-heavy and/or cash flowing opportunities in developed markets. Investments have included:

2000–2009

* In February 2001, Lone Star acquired Tokyo Sowa Bank in Japan for 40 billion yen and renamed it Tokyo Star Bank. * In 2008, Lone Star purchased $30.6 billion worth of CDOs from

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

for $6.7 billion. * Lone Star bought IKB Deutsche Industriebank in August 2008. *Following the bankruptcy of

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

, Lone Star purchased $10 billion of the firm's non-performing and performing loans for less than $300 million.

2010–2020

*In February 2014, Lone Star purchased Coeur Defense for €1.35 billion. *In June 2015 Lone Star bought Home Properties, for $7.6 billion. *Lone Star purchased Xella from PAI Partners and

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

for €2.2 billion in December 2016. * Ferguson plc sold the Stark Group to Lone Star for €1.03 billion in November 2017. *In May 2018, Lone Star acquired

Imerys IMERYS S.A. is a French Multinational corporation, multinational company that specialises in the production and processing of industrial minerals. The main headquarters is located in Paris and are constituents of the CAC Mid 60 index. Groupe Bru ...

's roof tiling business for €1 billion forming Edilians. *In December 2020, Lone Star acquired McCarthy Stone for €647 million.

2021–present

*In November 2021, Lone Star acquired a five-hotel portfolio from Host Hotels & Resorts for $551 million. *Lone Star acquired Carrier Global Corporation's commercial and residential fire business, Kidde, for $3 billion in December 2024.

Funds

The following list shows the company's various funds.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Private equity firms of the United States Companies based in Dallas Financial services companies established in 1995 Asset management companies