Private Equity · Profile from Private Equity Research Companion
Lone Star Funds
Dallas-founded global private equity firm specialising in distressed real estate, non-performing loans (NPLs), banks and other financial assets, plus corporate and real-estate opportunities arising from crises. Founded by John Grayken in 1995, it is among the largest and historically highest-returning opportunistic investors in the world — and among the most controversial in host countries (Korea, Japan, Portugal).
At a glance
- Founded
- 1995 (predecessor: Brazos Fund, 1993)
- Founder
- John P. Grayken (Chairman)
- HQ
- Dallas, Texas (founding); major offices in London, Dublin, Tokyo, Seoul (historically), Frankfurt, Madrid, Lisbon. Grayken has been based outside the US for decades
- Affiliate
- Hudson Advisors — Lone Star's asset-management/servicing affiliate (thousands of staff at peak), handling loan work-outs and asset management
- Strategy
- Opportunistic: NPL and real-estate portfolios, bank recapitalisations, distressed corporates, carve-outs, single-family and commercial real estate
- Capital raised
- ~$85bn+ cumulative across ~20+ funds (firm-reported; approximate)
- Notable deals
- Korea Exchange Bank, Tokyo Star Bank, IKB, Novo Banco, Corealcredit, Neinor Homes, Home Properties, Forterra, BI-LO, Accredited, DFC Global, Xella
12 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2001
Tokyo Star Bank
Failed-Bank Acquisition
2003
Korea Exchange Bank
Control Stake in a Distressed Bank
2005
BI LO
Corporate Carve-Out
2005
Corealcredit AHBR
Distressed German Mortgage Bank
2007
Accredited Home Lenders
Distressed Take-Private (Renegotiated)
2008
IKB Deutsche Industriebank
Distressed Bank Acquisition
2014
DFC Global
Take-Private of a Consumer-Finance Lender
2014
Neinor Homes
Carve-Out from a Spanish Bank
2015
Forterra
Corporate Carve-Out
2015
Home Properties
REIT Take-Private and Portfolio Break-Up
2017
Novo Banco
Recapitalisation of a Resolution Bank
2017
Xella
Secondary Buyout