Thoughts on Lone Star Funds?
Does anyone have an opinion on Lone Star Funds? Specifically interested in their corporate buyout / PE arm and any distressed debt investments that they may be involved in.
Any information on comp, prestige, work-life balance would also be appreciated.
They seem very, very sketchy. Easily the lowest profile of any $50Bn+ firm I know. The whole Lone Star / Hudson Advisors deal always weirded me out too.
A handful of their senior guys left to start Paceline which has been targeting a $1Bn fundraise for what seems like forever now. I know Paceline was intended to focus on corporate PE but I’ve heard through the grapevine that they’ve been doing a lot more debt and real estate.
Second this - It is a very weird dynamic with the breakdown between who is Hudson and who is Lone Star. Few years ago they went through a fair amount of layoffs in US, lots of turnover overall.
Are you saying that their low profile makes them sketchy? I take it their returns have to be pretty solid if they are able to raise that much capital
They are forking out of three clams for BASF Construction Chemicals.
Seems pretty legit...
https://www.cpecn.com/news/lone-star-funds-to-acquire-basfs-constructio…
They do a lot of (and I've only seen them on) deals in Basic/building materials in Europe, one of the leading shop with Blackstone in that sector. No clue for the US.
Do you know anyone that has worked there?
very vaguely, yes. But I've worked on a buyside for them
I know / have know people in the Real Estate group. Very active with distressed and sub prime assets (they have been very active buying distressed securities), quite aggressive (ie. extremely sharp elbow, always looking to renegotiate everything). Work-life balance has been described as the worst on the buy-side. Stellar returns.
Interesting, thanks
Lol at the first comment from VP in PE - LBOs.
Lone Star is probably among the very top performers in Distressed/RE/PE (select industries)/Spec Fin. They just have a totally different focus and are rarely competing against MFs like BX or KKR.
Culture is rough though, going through some transition.
Could you shed more light on the culture / transition?
Lone Star employees are mostly deal originators or head of regions. Mostly MDs and SMDs. Underwriting & AM is done by Hudson (also owned by Grayken). Work life balance in acquisition in RE/PE/Credit is terrible. AM hours are really good though (9-7 NYC). Pay is average. Distressed investments so it's super cyclical = high turnover.
Could anyone please share some insights on the 4hr PE case study they usually have in London? Any tips appreciated!
Also, keen to hear your views on culture, dealflow, etc.
Pizzapino, did you take the test? Was it more of a 3-statement modelling exercise or more of an investment evaluation?
Bump!
What's the reputation of Lone Star's PE team, especially in Europe? Has anyone dealt with them in the past?
How's the culture, comp, etc.?
I thought in US their PE team let go of a bunch of mid/senior level people a few years ago, shut down the strategy and US PE is only in asset management mode now. Can someone confirm?
My understanding is they raised an $8-9bn fund in 2019, so I would imagine they have quite a bit of dry powder. Does anyone have any recent data points on whether the culture/turnover has improved within US PE vs. a few years ago?
I've heard horrible things about Lone Star - Is the culture really that bad?
Bump - why is culture good / bad?
Bump - would be interesting to hear any recent views on Lone Star, particularly regarding the London office.
on the corporate PE side – they haven't been too active in the U.S. over the last few years, been focused on realizing a lot of their portfolio in Europe. however that's slowly shifting now and they're starting to look at / do deals again at a quicker pace domestically.
BUMP - concerned about London Comp/Hours/DF
BUMP
North American PE team consists of really sharp deal guys. For a fund of their size doing deals of their size, they have really terrible PR (no proper website, the Hudson Advisors dynamic, etc.). That may or may not be by design. The founder is one of the richest self-made men in the world and he keeps an extremely low profile. But in terms of deal team quality, execution capabilities, returns, the things that really matter - they are solid. Have added some strong talent in their US PE team over the past year or so as well including a really senior MD from Cerberus.
Any update on London Corporate PE team?
Sweatshop
Bump
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