- Kelso & Company
Infobox_Company
company_
company_name = Kelso & Company
company_type = Private Ownership
foundation =1971
location =
industry =Private Equity
products =Private equity fund s,Leveraged buyout s, Recapitalizations,Growth capital
assets = $10.1 billion
homepage = [http://www.kelso.com/ www.kelso.com]Kelso & Company is a
private equity investment firm focusing onleveraged buyout s, recapitalizations andgrowth capital transactions. Kelso invests in a variety of sectors, including communication, manufacturing and restaurants.Kelso is based in
New York City and was founded in1971 . Since1980 , the firm has raised approximately $10.1 billion of investor commitments to itsprivate equity fund s and was among the 50 largest private equity firms globally. Since its inception, the firm has made investments in over 90 companies representing more tha $31 billion of aggregate purchase price.Kelso also provides
mezzanine capital through a joint venture withBlackRock , an asset management firm. Their joint venture, Blackrock Kelso Capital Corp. (NASDAQ|BKCC), is organized as a type of publicly traded private equity company known as aBusiness Development Company .History
Originally founded in
1971 as Kelso Bangert & Company, the firm acted as both an advisor andmerchant bank , both making investments and advising inmergers and acquisitions . Kelso was foundedLouis O. Kelso , a lawyer and economist who is given credit for developing the concept forEmployee Stock Ownership Plan s, also known asESOP s, in1956 . Kelso, alongside a sister company Louis O. Kelso Inc., focused initially on M&A activity involving Employee Stock Ownership Plans." [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1D71339F932A15751C0A967958260 Louis O. Kelso, Who Advocated Worker-Capitalism, Is Dead at 77] ."New York Times , February 21, 1991.]Kelso raised its first
private equity fund and has had a dedicated private equity investment platform since1980 .Louis O. Kelso who died in1991 transitioned management of the firm to Joseph Schuchert to focus on writing and lecturing. [" [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFDD1239F93BA25750C0A96E948260 Standard Endorses Kelso Bid] ."New York Times , March 18, 1988.] Today the firm is headed by Frank T. Nickell who joined the firm in1977 .References
External links
* [http://www.kelso.com/ Kelso & Company] (company website)
* [http://www.blackrockkelso.com/ Blackrock-Kelso Capital Corp.] (company website)
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