JLL Partners

Infobox_Company
company_
company_name = JLL Partners
company_type = Private Ownership
foundation = 1987
location =
industry = Private Equity
products = private equity funds
assets = $7.2 billion [Funds raised since inception]
homepage = [http://www.jllpartners.com/ www.jllpartners.com]

JLL Partners (formerly known as Joseph Littlejohn & Levy, and originally founded as Gilliam Joseph & Littlejohn) is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout transactions and leveraged recapitalizations of middle-market companies. The firm invests in various industries including food and consumer products, automotive parts, health care, media and telecommunications, commodity and specialty chemicals, building products, transportation, and industrial manufacturing and distribution and tends to focus on companies requiring an operational turnaround.

The firm is based in New York City and was founded in 1987.

History

JLL traces its roots back to Gilliam Joseph & Littlejohn, a merchant bank founded in 1987 by William J. Gilliam, Peter A. Joseph and Angus C. Littlejohn Jr. The three original founders, Gilliam, Littlejohn and Joseph met in the mid-1980's at the Quadrex Corporation, a small New York brokerage. They initially leased their office space from 1980s corporate raider and fellow Drexel Burnham Lambert client Bennett S. LeBow. At Quadrex, Gilliam, the youngest of the three, managed the mergers and acquisitions unit, and the other two reported to him. After a series of successful investments, the three decided to leave Quadrex and set up their own small private equity firm. In 1988, Paul S. Levy, formerly a managing director, at Drexel Burnham Lambert, focusing on corporate restructurings and exchange offers was recruited to join the firm, which was renamed Gilliam Joseph Littlejohn & Levy. Levy was able to help his firm secure $150 million of capital for buyout transactions from his former firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert.

The firm experienced an early success with their leveraged buyout of Rexene Corp, a Texas-based chemical company, which made the partners into multi-millionaires. However, the partnership soured and Gilliam left over reported personality clashes. Gilliam would set up his own small investment firm Gilliam & Company to focus on investments in chemicals and plastics and would serve as chairman of Rexene. In 1991, Gilliam, would face a similar falling out with the board of Rexene and resigned abruptly. [Cowan, Alison Leigh " [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE6DF1438F937A35751C0A967958260 Market Place; Chairman's Role In Rexene Feuds] ." New York Times, February 4, 1991]

JLL's investment funds have experienced mixed results. According to data from Private Equity Intelligence, JLL Partners Fund III and V have proven to be top-performing for their respective vintage years, however funds I and IV were slightly below the median for their vintage years and the returns on fund II were in the bottom quartile of 1994 vintage funds.

In 1996, Angus Littlejohn resigned from Joseph Littlejohn & Levy to form a new private investment firm, Littlejohn & Co. The following year, Peter Joseph left the firm and joined Palladium Equity Partners in 1998, a middle-market private equity firm with a specialization on investments in the U.S. Hispanic market and also in Mexico, Spain, and Brazil, founded the prior year.

In 2002, after a lengthy and difficult fundraising, the rechristened "JLL Partners" was able to close a new private equity fund, JLL Partners Fund IV LP., with $750 million of investor commitments, representing a 25% decrease from its previous fund. [ " [http://www.jllpartners.com/news/2002/1129.php JLL Partners Gets Back in the Action] ." PrivateEquityCentral.net, November 29, 2002] [Carey, David " [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-2696010_ITM JLL Partners Closes 4th Fund] ." The Daily Deal, November 18, 2002]

Funds raised

Since its founding, JLL has raised six private equity funds with investor commitments totaling $7.2 billion of investor commitments:
*1989 - Joseph Littlejohn & Levy Fund I ($221 million)
*1994 - Joseph Littlejohn & Levy Fund II ($400 million)
*1998 - JLL Partners Fund III ($1.0 billion, first fund raised after departure of Joseph and Littlejohn)
*2002 - JLL Partners Fund IV ($751 million)
*2005 - JLL Partners Fund V ($1.5 billion)
*2008 - JLL Partners Fund VI ($3.3 billion, currently in fundraising)

Portfolio companies

* Allegheny International (1988) [" [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7DC1739F93BA25752C1A96E948260 Bid Approved By Allegheny] ." Reuters, November 18, 1988 ]

*Motor Coach Industries (1999) [" [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02E4D81E38F935A25755C0A96F958260 GRUPO DINA PLANS TO SELL 61% STAKE IN MOTOR COACH UNIT] ." New York Times, June 16, 1999]

*Lancer Industries, subsequently merged and renamed Fairfield Manufacturing (1986);

*Foodbrands America Inc. (1995);

*Ornda Healthcorp (1991) [Freudenheim, Milt. " [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D7133EF930A35751C1A965958260 Ornda Healthcorp in 2d Merger in Two Weeks] ." New York Times, December 3, 1993]

*Motor Wheel Corporation, subsequently merged and renamed Hayes Lemmerz International [" [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2D81539F933A05750C0A960958260 Motor Wheel Plans to Merge With Hayes Wheels] ." Bloomberg, March 30, 1996] [" [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980DE1DC113FF933A25751C1A960958260 HAYES WHEELS TO ACQUIRE 77% OF LEMMERZ] ." New York Times, December 10, 1996]

*J.G. Wentworth (2005) [Rosenbush, Steve. " [http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jul2006/pi20060707_832000.htm Wentworth's pocket of gold] ." BusinessWeek, July 7, 2006]

*Iasis Healthcare [" [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CEFDF1638F93BA2575BC0A96F958260 JOSEPH LITTLEJOHN AND IASIS TO ACQUIRE 15 HOSPITALS] ." New York Times, August 18, 1999]

*AdvancePCS

External links

* [http://www.jllpartners.com/ JLL Partners] (company website)
* [http://www.littlejohnllc.com/ Littlejohn & Co.] (company website), founded by Angus C. Littlejohn Jr.
* [http://www.palladiumequity.com/ Palladium Equity Partners] (company website), Peter A. Joseph joined in 1998

References

* Cowan, Alison Leigh. " [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE7D81338F931A15752C0A96F948260 Divorce, Wall Street Style] ." New York Times, January 22, 1989
* Liebowitz, Jay. " [http://media.www.whartonjournal.com/media/storage/paper201/news/2001/02/26/Undergraduate/Private.Equity.Maven.Goes.Public.At.Speech-36876.shtml Private equity maven goes public at speech] ." The Wharton Journal, February 26, 2001