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

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm headquartered in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The firm focuses on investing in middle market growth companies across various sectors, including financial technology, services, healthcare, technology, and business solutions.

History

Thomas H. Lee Partners was founded in 1974 by Thomas H. Lee, often referred to as THL. As of 2022, THL had raised approximately $34 billion of equity capital, investmenting in more than 160 companies. The firm's portfolio includes over 500 add-on acquisitions representing an aggregate enterprise value at acquisition of over $210 billion. In 2022, Private Equity International ranked THL Partners 82nd among the top 300 private equity firms based on funds raised in 2021. The firm's Management Committee consists of Chairman Tony DiNovi, and Managing Director Tom Hagerty. The firm's namesake, Thomas H. Lee, left the company and formed Lee Equity Partners in 2006.

Investments

Throughout its history, Thomas H. Lee Partners has raised over $36 billion. The firm has launched various funds, such as: * 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) Notable transactions sponsored by THL include AbacusNext,

Aramark Aramark is an American Foodservice, food service and Facility management, facilities services provider to clients in areas including education, prisons, healthcare, business, and leisure. It operates in North America (United States and Canada) a ...

, AutoStore, Brooks Automation,

Ceridian Dayforce, Inc., formerly Ceridian, is a provider of human resources software and services with employees across its global footprint in the United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Latinamerica, Africa ( EMEA), and the Asia Pacific Japan (A ...

, CSafe, Dunkin' Brands,

Experian Experian plc is a multinational corporation, multinational data broker and consumer credit reporting company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Experian collects and aggregates information on more than 1 billion people and businesses including ...

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

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "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 vocalize it as ...

, Syneos Health, Michael Foods,

The Nielsen Company Nielsen Holdings plc (or Nielsen) is an American media audience measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide. For most of its history, the company was known for its two subsidiarie ...

Odessa
ProSiebenSat.1, Smile Doctors, Snapple, Warner Chilcott,

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

, and West Corporation.

Refco

In 2004, THL completed a leveraged buyout acquisition of Refco, a

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

company specializing in

commodities In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that specifically 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. Th ...

and futures 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 Bankruptcy

In March 2020, Art Van Furniture, a furniture retailer owned by THL, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company's going-out-of-business sales, approved two days before the filing, had to be suspended due to the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

. As a debtor-in-possession, Art Van could not prioritize paying employees over other creditors without a court order. To support the affected employees, THL established a 'Hardship Fund' and contributed an initial donation of $1 million. Additionally, THL pledged to match up to another $1 million in outside donations. In March 2021, THL fulfilled its matching commitment, leading to relief payments of approximately $1,200 per former Art Van 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 an investment management firm founded in 1937 by George Putnam, who established one of the first balanced mutual funds, The George Putnam Fund of Boston. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, it has offices in London, To ...

, a leading global

money management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified ...

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