Stellex Capital Management has closed Stellex Capital Partners II LP with total commitments of more than $1.77 billion and exceeding the fund’s original $1.25 billion target. Stellex closed its debut fund in July 2017 with $870 million of capital.
Stellex’s founding partners – Ray Whiteman and Michael Stewart – have worked together for over 17 years. Prior to forming Stellex in 2014 they were both partners of The Carlyle Group and co-heads of Carlyle Strategic Partners.
“We are very appreciative of the continued support from our existing limited partners as well as our new investors,” said Mr. Whiteman. “We are humbled by the trust our partners have in us which manifested itself in investor interest beyond the hard cap established for the Fund, particularly given the current market uncertainty we are all living through. We continue to build out our team of experienced investment and operating professionals and we are focused on sourcing compelling opportunities that drive value for our partners and their underlying constituents.”
Stellex invests from $50 million to $150 million in United States or Europe-based companies with enterprise values from $50 million to $500 million and revenues greater than $100 million. Sectors of interest include manufacturing and service businesses within the automotive, aerospace, building products, consumer, defense, food, general industrial, and transportation industries.
In August, Stellex announced the opening of a new office in Ann Arbor, Michigan and the hiring of Shankar Kiru as a managing director and Andrew Arton as a director. Mr. Kiru was previously the CEO of Endicott, New York-based George Industries, an aerospace and defense supplier owned by Orangewood Partners. Earlier, he was the president of Cambridge, Ontario-based ATS Automation. Mr. Arton joins Stellex from First Midwest Bank where he was a senior vice president in the bank’s specialty lending group.
“While timing is very important when we look at investment opportunities, the alpha of our strategy has always been to add value to companies by helping them be better businesses,” said Mr. Stewart. “Stellex has deep relationships within numerous industry sectors that can benefit both manufacturing and service businesses and we have been in daily dialogue with companies during this disruptive time in the markets regarding challenges and solutions.”
In addition to the new Ann Arbor location, Stellex has offices in New York City and London.
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