Formerly called
|
Bear Stearns Merchant Banking (1997-2008) |
---|---|
Private | |
Industry | Private equity |
Predecessors | Bear Stearns Merchant Banking |
Founded | 1997 |
Founder | John D. Howard |
Headquarters | 277 Park Avenue, New York, New York, United States |
Products | Leveraged buyout, Growth capital |
Total assets | $4.4 billion |
Number of employees
|
20+ |
Website | www |
Irving Place Capital, formerly known as Bear Stearns Merchant Banking (BSMB), is an American private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in middle-market companies across a range of industries.
The firm's predecessor Bear Stearns Merchant Banking was founded in 1997 by John D. Howard, formerly a co-founder of Vestar Capital Partners. The group completed its separation from Bear Stearns' owner JPMorgan Chase in 2008.
Irving Place Capital is based in New York City its predecessor had raised approximately $4.4 billion since inception across three Bear Stearns Merchant Banking funds.
Since inception, Irving Place Capital and its predecessor, Bear Stearns Merchant Banking has made a number of investments in notable companies in the retail, restaurants, consumer products, healthcare, energy, financial and business services, and industrial sectors. Among the firm's most notable investments are the following (separated by the private equity fund from which the investment was made:
In 1997, John D. Howard was hired by Bear Stearns to launch a new private equity and merchant banking effort for the investment bank. Prior to joining Bear Stearns, Howard had been senior vice president of Wesray Capital Corporation and later co-founded Vestar Capital Partners in 1988. In 1998, Bear Stearns Merchant Banking raised its first fund with $200 million of investor commitments. Bear Stearns had been one of the pioneers of private equity investing in the 1960s and 1970s, when Jerome Kohlberg and later protégés Henry Kravis and George Roberts completed a series of what they described as "bootstrap" investments beginning in 1964-65 before leaving the bank to found Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1976.