We work collaboratively to build financing solutions shaped to meet the needs of our private equity clients, capital partners, and investors. Audax Private Debt invests in established middle market companies through first lien, stretch senior, unitranche, second lien, junior debt and equity co-investment solutions. With the successful closing of Mezz Fund V, Audax Private Debt will continue to execute on its proven strategy of directly sourcing junior debt investments in private equity sponsor-backed companies in North America. With DLS, Audax Private Debt continues its proven strategy of directly sourcing debt investments in private equity sponsor‐backed middle market companies. The Fund enables Audax Private Debt to utilize its senior and junior debt underwriting expertise to provide unitranche and stretch senior financings of up to $175 million per transaction. Peter is a Managing Director at Audax Private Debt, overseeing our unitranche and junior debt investment teams.
Heightened interest in mezzanine financing similarly suggests sponsors have a desire to turn back the clock. In Plovdiv, Bulgaria, the local laws governing Debt & Collection include the Bulgarian Debt Collection Act, which outlines the procedures for debt collection and the rights of creditors and debtors. It is essential to familiarize yourself with these laws to protect your rights and interests when dealing with debt-related matters.
Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Unison offers its clients differentiated solutions to help them transact and manage contracts more efficiently and comply with complex federal contracting requirements. Unison’s software suites turn AI, bot, and NLP technologies into applied innovation—solving real business problems and creating opportunities for clients. A trusted partner with longstanding relationships and a track record of customer-led success, Unison currently serves all 15 U.S. cabinet-level agencies and has more than 200,000 product end users. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona and serving 25 markets across the U.S., A1 is a market leader in the direct-to-consumer residential repair and replacement garage door services industry.
The ESG Committee is responsible for the implementation of our ESG Policy and assesses the quality and consistency of our approach to ESG integration and risk management. At Audax Private Debt, Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) principles have been an important factor in our investment decision Mary Hoover Drucker making and our management process since our inception. Vortex Companies is a provider of trenchless infrastructure rehabilitation products and services. Prior to Blackstone’s acquisition of GSO Capital in 2008, Colleen joined GSO with a team from the RBC Capital Markets’ Debt Investments Group.
In a high interest rate environment, some borrowers may struggle to maintain adequate FCCR and interest-coverage ratios. Mezzanine’s ability to allow for PIK-interest payments improves the ability of borrowers to cover their current cash interest and fixed charges. Given heightened base rates, the cash interest rate for mezzanine tranches is often lower than unitranche and sometimes lower than senior debt cash interest rates. In this sense, mezzanine structures can preserve cashflow during windows when liquidity dries up. Kevin is responsible for overseeing all facets of Audax’ debt business, including origination, underwriting, and portfolio management as well as setting the business’ strategic direction.
Even as all-senior financing structures and unitranche facilities have become more common, mezzanine remains critical within the capital structures of sponsor-backed companies. For instance, despite the appearance of one legal document, some historical unitranche facilities were, at times, carved up into first-out/last-out positions via a separate lender agreement. More recently, mezzanine funds have generally had flexibility to invest in traditional unsecured notes, second lien loans, holdco PIK notes, and preferred and common equity. Adam joined Audax in 2000 and has since invested in 40 platform companies across healthcare, consumer, and software/technology sectors. Prior to joining Audax, Adam was with the private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, where he focused on leverage buyouts across a number of industries.
Additionally, David is active with the San Francisco chapter of SEO Scholars, which provides educational and career opportunities for underrepresented minority public school students and the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Audax dedicates time, resources, and expertise to support a wide array of nonprofit and charitable organizations across Boston, San Francisco, New York, and the local communities in which our businesses operate. Our ESG Committee includes the President of Audax Private Debt, three Managing Directors, and our internal ESG Specialist.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Magna provides litigation support services to over 13,000 law firms, corporations, insurance carriers, and government agencies. The Company provides critical support to its clients throughout the litigation process, including court reporting, translation, videography, records retrieval, jury evaluation and consulting, graphic design, and trial presentation services. Magna was founded in 2007 and has established itself as one of the industry’s leading and fastest growing litigation support providers, with offices across the US serving clients in all 50 states. Audax Private Debt seeks to collect meaningful, performance-based, and comparable ESG data from its portfolio companies.
Sydney is a Principal at Audax Private Debt, and a member of our unitranche and junior debt investment teams. Colleen is a Managing Director at Audax Private Debt, and a member of our senior debt investment team. Dinko is a Managing Director at Audax Private Debt, and a member of our senior debt investment team. Tom Noto is a Managing Director at Audax Private Debt, and a member of our senior debt investment team.
PitchBook’s 2023 Global League Tables rankings are compiled using the count of completed deals for the specified criteria. Only publicly disclosed transactions and/or transactions confirmed by PitchBook’s primary research team are included. The Select Roles list comprises only bookrunners, lead arrangers, mandated lead arrangers, and all types of agents that are specifically listed within PitchBook.
As our investment operations and businesses have scaled, our dedication to this segment remains unchanged, creating a competitive advantage and edge to source, support, and help grow middle market companies. The demand for mezzanine today, from borrowers as well as other lenders, is fuelled by the flexibility this form of financing provides. Borrowers can attach mezzanine facilities behind various senior debt levels and ultimately utilise more leverage than all-senior deals.
This has translated into widening spreads for unitranche loans and LBO leverage levels generally trending lower. A few significant differences distinguish the gravitation to mezzanine debt from other fashion trends. The surge in interest is an outgrowth of more fundamental drivers, ranging from escalating interest rates to the ongoing retrenchment of “traditional” bank lenders. Also, while vinyl records have been collecting dust, mezzanine financing never went away.
Prior to joining Audax in 2021, Alexander worked at HighBrook Investors, where he was Chief Financial Officer and oversaw the finance, portfolio management and debt capital markets functions. Prior to that, Alexander worked at Lexington Realty Trust, focused on corporate transactions. The role of mezzanine within the capital structure isn’t always obvious from the outside looking in.