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Kelso & Company

Kelso & Company is an American private equity firm focusing on leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations and growth capital transactions. Kelso invests in a variety of sectors, including communication, manufacturing and restaurants. Kelso is based in New York City.

Kelso also provides mezzanine capital through a joint venture with asset management firm BlackRock. Their joint venture, BlackRock Kelso Capital Corp. (nasdaq: BKCC), is organized as a type of publicly traded private equity company known as a Business Development Company.

History

Founded in 1971 as Kelso Bangert & Company, the firm acted as both an advisor and merchant bank, both making investments and advising on mergers and acquisitions. Kelso was founded by Louis O. Kelso, a lawyer and economist who is given credit for developing the concept for employee stock ownership plans, in 1956. Kelso, alongside a sister company Louis O. Kelso Inc., focused initially on M&A activity involving Employee Stock Ownership Plans.[1]

Kelso raised its first private equity fund and has had a dedicated private equity investment platform since 1980. Louis O. Kelso, who died in 1991, transitioned management of the firm to Joseph Schuchert to focus on writing and lecturing.[1][2]

In June 2016, Kelso closed its latest fund at $2.6 billion.[3]

Investments

Kelso & Company has invested in energy, materials, retailing, industrial and consumer products, telecommunication services, financial services, and healthcare sectors. The company typically invests in North America with a focus on the United States. It targets investing between $50 million and $600 million in firms that have a value of between $250 million and $2.5 billion.[4]

In December 2021, Kelso completed the acquisition of ReSource Pro, a leading provider of business process management (BPO) and consulting services to insurance brokers and carriers.[5][6]

External links

References

  1. "Louis O. Kelso, Who Advocated Worker-Capitalism, Is Dead at 77." New York Times, February 21, 1991.^
  2. "Standard Endorses Kelso Bid." New York Times, March 18, 1988.^
  3. Vanya Damyanova. Kelso & Co closed Fund IX above target at $2.6bn - AltAssets Private Equity News www.altassets.net^
  4. Kelso & Company: Private Company Information - Businessweek www.bloomberg.com, retrieved 2016-06-14^
  5. Kelso Fund X Announces Investment in ResourcePro www.kelso.com, retrieved 2025-09-27^
  6. admin. Private Equity Firm Kelso Invests in ReSource Pro, Takes Majority Interest Insurance Journal, 2021-12-21, retrieved 2025-09-27^