Houlihan Lokey Advises NewStar Financial, Inc.

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that NewStar Financial, Inc., (NewStar) (NASDAQ:NEWS) has completed the previously announced sale to First Eagle Holdings, Inc., (First Eagle) and concurrent sale of its $2.4 billion middle-market loan and credit investment portfolio to a newly formed fund sponsored by GSO Capital Partners (GSO). The transactions closed on December 22, 2017.

Founded in 2004, NewStar is an internally managed lender and credit-oriented asset manager headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company’s direct lending activities are focused on meeting the complex financing needs of companies and private investors in the middle market through specialized lending groups that offer a range of flexible debt financing options. The company also offers a range of investment management products employing credit-oriented strategies focused on middle-market loans and liquid, tradeable credit. The company manages approximately $7.2 billion in assets, with $3.6 billion held in consolidated subsidiaries of the company and $3.6 billion in off-balance sheet credit funds. NewStar’s credit platform and investment teams now form the alternative credit group of First Eagle. Following the completion of the Asset Sale, NewStar continues to service investments on behalf of GSO, ensuring continuity for its private equity clients and their portfolio companies.

First Eagle is an independent, privately owned investment management firm headquartered in New York with approximately $116 billion in assets under management (as of September 30, 2017). Dedicated to providing prudent stewardship of client assets, the firm focuses on active, fundamental, and benchmark-agnostic investing, with a strong emphasis on downside protection. Over a long history dating back to 1864, First Eagle has helped its clients avoid permanent impairment of capital and earn attractive returns through widely varied economic cycles—a tradition that is central to its mission today. The firm’s investment capabilities include equity, fixed income, and multi-asset strategies.

GSO is the global credit investment platform of Blackstone (NYSE:BX). With approximately $95 billion in assets under management, GSO is one of the largest alternative managers in the world focused on the leveraged finance, or non-investment grade-related, marketplace. GSO seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns in its business by investing in a broad array of strategies, including mezzanine debt, distressed investing, leveraged loans, and other special-situation strategies. Its funds are major providers of credit for small and middle-market companies, and they also advance rescue financing to help distressed companies.