Boston Buyout Dealmaker Spins Out Of Lincolnshire

Thomas W. Janes, a longtime banker and buyout investor, is looking to stretch his wings by running his own buyout shop with backing from his old firm.

Janes, for the last seven years a managing director at New York-based buyout shop Lincolnshire Management Inc. and the head of Lincolnshire’s Boston office, said he plans to use his new venture, Kerry Capital Advisors Inc., to invest in deals both larger and smaller than Lincolnshire would consider. “I’ve been in the business a long time. I’ve got a lot of relationships,” Janes said in an interview.

With credit markets appearing to be thawing from their two-year freeze, the time is right to launch the new firm, he said. “In the context of the deal world in which I operate it is now a much more friendly environment for pursuing transactions than a year ago,” Janes said. “Three years ago would have been a terrible time. Three years from now would be too late.”

In announcing the formation of Kerry Capital on March 24, Janes said the firm will focus on a wide range of opportunities, from privately held companies and family-owned businesses to public corporations; capital in amounts from $10 million to $100 million; and for purposes including recapitalization, growth, buyout or consolidation.

Kerry Capital also said it will participate in a broad range of industry sectors, including manufacturing, consumer products, logistics and distribution, health care, business services, energy, media and publishing, technology and software.

Lincolnshire is providing backing for Kerry Capital, and although Janes would not provide details of the financial arrangements, he said Kerry Capital will have a “first look” type arrangement with Lincolnshire, at least initially. Kerry Capital will initially source transactions exclusively for Lincolnshire, and Janes would not say on the record when that period of exclusivity will expire.

“We’re pleased that Tom Janes has founded a new firm to build in his own style, and that we will continue to collaborate in finding attractive middle market acquisition opportunities,” Tom Callahan, a managing director at Lincolnshire, said in an e-mail message.

“I think this works for both parties,” Janes said. Before joining Lincolnshire in 2003, Janes was a co-founder and managing director of Triumph Capital Group, which managed $900 million in private equity capital. Earlier in his career, he served stints at a number of firms, including Drexel Burnham, First Boston and Lazard Freres & Co. Early in his career, Janes worked as a consultant in Bain & Co.’s offices in Boston and London, which led him to name his new firm after his favorite Irish county, he said.