Lightyear Capital is a

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

firm focused on

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

and

growth capital Growth capital (also called expansion capital and growth equity) is a type of private equity investment, usually a minority investment, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new mar ...

investments in

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...

companies. The firm, which is based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, was founded in 2002 with the backing of UBS AG by Donald Marron. Marron is best known for building up PaineWebber over a 23-year career and completing its sale to UBS AG in late 2000 for $10.8 Billion. Marron was also a founder of Data Resources Inc. The firm has raised approximately $3 billion since inception across its five funds. In May 2002, Lightyear closed on its first fund, The Lightyear Fund, with $750 million of investor commitments, approximately $500 million of which came from UBS AG. In 2006, the firm completed fundraising for its second

private equity fund A private equity fund (abbreviated as PE fund) is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity (and to a lesser extent debt) securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity ...

, with $850 million of commitments from over 40 investors. In March 2021, the firm filed documents stating that it had raised over $1.27 billion with 24 investors for its fifth fund, Lightyear Capital V. Among the firm's most notable investments are

Collegiate Funding Services JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the w ...

(acquired by

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, t ...

), ARGUS Software, Higher One, NAU Country Insurance Company (the nation's third largest crop insurer), Antares Holdings,

New Flyer Industries New Flyer is a Canadian multinational bus manufacturer, specializing in the production of transit buses. New Flyer is owned by the NFI Group, a holding company for several bus manufacturers. New Flyer has several manufacturing facilities in Cana ...

, and Goldleaf Financial Solutions. In 2013, Atlanta, divested its RidgeWorth Investments to Lightyear Capital LLC for up to $265 million. In May 2019, Lightyear Capital acquired a controlling stake in Lighthouse Technologies Holdings Corporation. In September 2021, Lightyear Capital acquired assets and partnered with Schellman & Company, LLC for the delivery of Information Technology and cybersecurity compliance services.

References

External links

Lightyear Capital
(company website) Private equity firms of the United States Investment banking private equity groups UBS Financial services companies established in 2002 Companies based in New York City 2002 establishments in New York City {{US-private-equity-company-stub