Victory Park, expected to raise Fund III, hires partner to open Los Angeles office

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  • Jason Brown spent more than 10 years at GE Capital
  • Firm plans additional hire for its new Los Angeles office
  • Wants to expand its portfolio of Western US companies

In May, Buyouts reported that Victory Park’s 2011 vintage fund, a $480 million pool, was almost fully invested and that the firm is in the process of planning a follow-up vehicle. The firm declined to comment on fundraising.

Brown joins a partnership group that includes founders Richard Levy, Matthew Ray and Brendan Carroll as well as Chief Operating Officer Jordan Allen, who joined the Chicago-based firm in early 2013.

Brown spent more than 10 years at GE Capital, where he specialized in providing support to growth, acquisition, turnaround and balance sheet optimization strategies for GE Capital corporate finance teams located in the western United States and Mountain West regions. He previously worked as an alternate group manager for Comerica Bank.

“My network, although it’s very heavy in the restructuring community, it’s also very broad in the investment banking community,” Brown told Buyouts. That network should help Brown source mid-market deals in the western United States, he said.

Victory Park has been very active in the region over the last several years, having provided debt and equity financing to companies headquartered throughout California, Texas and the Southwest. Last month, the firm acquired Mi Pueblo, a California grocer that caters to the state’s Hispanic community, for $56 million through a bankruptcy process. One of the firm’s earliest transactions involved an injection of $25 million senior secured financing in Jamba Juice, a smoothie chain based in Emeryville, California.

In order to expand its profile in the region, Victory Park plans to hire more investment professionals for the Los Angeles office, which Carroll said will “open a lot of doors” as the firm sources new deals. Victory Park will likely seek people who have backgrounds working with both healthy companies and restructuring situations.

“That’s something we’re going to be doing over the coming 12 months. Obviously we have to finalize an office location first, and then we’ll build out after that,” Brown said.

Victory Park was founded in 2007. The firm provides debt and equity financing to middle market companies with revenues up to $250 million. Joseph Lieberman, a candidate for vice president in 2000, joined Victory Park Capital in January as chairman of its executive board.