Churchill Financial Announces Acquisition by Olympus Partners and Additional Capital Investment in Firm

NEW YORK, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Churchill Financial Holdings LLC, a leading middle market focused commercial finance company, announced today that Olympus Partners, a leading Stamford, Conn.-based private equity firm, through its affiliate, Olympus Growth Fund V, LP, has acquired the company and agreed to refinance existing indebtedness and invest additional capital to support the growth of its core middle market lending business.  

"The opportunity to provide senior debt financing to solid middle market companies backed by top-tier private equity firms has never been more attractive than it is today," said Ken Kencel, president and CEO of Churchill Financial.  "With banks and larger commercial finance companies constrained in their lending activities, we see an opportunity to aggressively build our middle market lending franchise by providing funding to this underserved segment of the U.S. market and drive attractive returns to our investors."  

"We have been looking for an opportunity to invest in the middle market senior lending area for some time, especially given the attractive market dynamics we see daily in our middle market private equity investment activities, including a severe contraction in the number of senior lenders over the past two years," said Paul Rubin, partner of Olympus Partners.  "With Churchill, we believe we have found the ideal platform – a first class, highly regarded senior management team, a solid and proven origination and underwriting team, an excellent credit track record in the middle market senior lending space and significant long-term committed financing.  Churchill meets all of the criteria we believe are required to make a successful investment in this area."

"With over $3.25 billion in assets under management and over $500 million in current liquidity to support senior lending activities, we believe we have the platform to grow our business significantly over the next several years," said Ken Kencel.  "With the support of a premier private investment firm like Olympus Partners, we believe we can successfully build upon our franchise as a leading provider of senior and one-stop financing to solid middle market companies as they seek to grow their businesses."

Barclays Capital served as financial advisor to Churchill Financial in this transaction.

About Churchill Financial Group

Churchill Financial Group, headquartered in New York, is a leading commercial finance and asset management company. Churchill has two complementary businesses: Churchill Financial, which focuses on providing senior and one-stop financing to middle market companies; and Churchill Pacific, which manages portfolios of broadly syndicated senior loans and other fixed income funds. Churchill Financial focuses primarily on lending to companies backed by leading private equity firms and other investors. Churchill has over $3.25 billion in assets under management and approximately $1.25 billion of committed capital to support its senior lending activities. Churchill has offices in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles.  For more information, please visit www.churchillnet.com.

About Olympus Partners

Founded in 1988, Olympus Partners is a Stamford, Conn.-based private equity firm focused on providing equity capital for middle market management buyouts and for companies needing capital for expansion. Olympus is an active, long-term investor across a broad range of industries, including healthcare services, financial services, consumer products and business services.  Olympus manages in excess of $3 billion on behalf of corporate pension funds, endowment funds and state-sponsored retirement programs.  For more information, please visit www.olympuspartners.com.

SOURCE Churchill Financial Group