Creative and Flexible Capital Structuring. Marathon’s private equity team complements and capitalizes on Marathon’s other investment strategies by being able to structure investments in a highly creative manner, including both common and preferred equity as well as a variety of forms of debt-related securities. The Marathon Private Equity team will often invest in partnership with other financial investors or with the managers of a business and have experience working with companies to create value as both a majority and a meaningful minority investor. Together with the Marathon Structured Finance team and the Marathon Special Opportunity team, the Marathon Private Equity team has the ability to bring multiple equity and debt solutions to companies, managers and other financial firms that are in need of capital for interesting and accretive purposes.

Long-term Shareholder Value Creation and Focus on Growth. Marathon’s private equity business has a long-term approach to investing, preferring to focus on ways to compound investment returns by helping the managers of companies in which it has invested to grow their businesses at rates that exceed the rate at which they had previously grown and by providing capital to help companies execute their business objectives. Although the team endeavors to invest at reasonable valuations, it believes that long-term investment returns are the result of sustainable earnings growth. Following an initial investment, the Marathon Private Equity team capitalizes on the significant experience of its professionals to work actively with managers and other financial investors to identify ways to create and enhance long-term shareholder value.

Special Situation Expertise. Marathon’s private equity team often looks to invest in companies that are experiencing some form of financial stress or distress. The business benefits from Marathon’s significant expertise in special situations and distressed debt investing to identify businesses who are facing difficult financial or operational circumstances and who are in need of flexible capital and an investor/financial partner to help them navigate through troubled waters. The team has significant experience working with fundamentally good businesses that have “hair” associated with them and situations that are particularly complex, such as providing post-reorganization equity capital, leading debt-for-equity recapitalizations or participating in Section 363 sales or other asset sales resulting from companies in bankruptcy proceedings.

Partnering with Exceptional Managers. Marathon’s private equity team strives to invest in businesses in partnership with exceptional managers and believes that the depth and breadth of experience and talent of the executives that are leading the companies in which we are involved is a key to the success of our investments. The team will work to align the incentives of the investors in a company with those of its managers and will structure meaningful wealth creation opportunities for our management colleagues. Marathon’s private equity business will often invest in new companies established by experienced managers in sectors where there are interesting opportunities for a new market entrant.

Proactive Investment Sourcing. Marathon’s private equity business benefits from the many strong relationships of its private equity team members as well as the founders and professionals of Marathon to introduce proprietary investment opportunities where Marathon believes that it has a significant advantage. The private equity team proactively seeks out and endeavors to identify companies that have to the ability to grow, but that lack access to capital necessary for growth. In addition, the private equity business capitalizes on Marathon’s other investment activities to identify and target unique investment ideas and situations. The team typically evaluates numerous distinct investment opportunities each year, many of which are unique opportunities identified or sourced through relationships of the principals of the firm.

Substantial Due Diligence and Investment Analysis. Marathon’s private equity team performs significant due diligence and investment analysis prior to making an investment. In addition to the investment resources of the firm, the team will often employ a number of third-party resources to help it evaluate the potential risks and opportunities associated with an investment. The team has a thorough and deliberate approach to investing and a strong credit orientation focusing on the potential risks to capital preservation in particular investments.

Global Presence and Industry Expertise. The Marathon Private Equity team takes advantage of Marathon’s global investment scale and scope and will evaluate investments anywhere in the world, including those in both developed and emerging markets. The team benefits from investment professionals and partners in Europe, Asia and Latin America that are familiar with the laws, cultures and business environments of those regions. It also benefits from Marathon Asset Management’s broad industry expertise and employs the analytical resources of the firm to identify and evaluate opportunities in a diverse group of industries.