ORIX USA, a diversified financial services company, announced today the formation of IX Capital Partners, a new investment initiative of its majority-owned subsidiary, Mariner Investment Group LLC (Mariner). IX Capital Partners – Private Equity is seeking to invest in equity capital in a variety of industries and special situations in North America. Its target equity size per deal is $100 million with a range of $50 million to $150 million. This new team is based in Mariner’s New York City office, with an office also in Dallas.
Together with ORIX USA’s corporate lending and financing capabilities, IX Capital Partners will provide its investors (including ORIX USA) with seamless opportunities to make investments, providing a comprehensive one-stop solution to middle-market companies.
IX Capital Partners represents the most recent business collaboration between ORIX USA and Mariner, and facilitates the opportunity for clients to co-invest alongside ORIX USA capital. As a registered investment adviser, Mariner has the investment and management infrastructure, as well as the regulatory compliance and operational capabilities, to support IX Capital Partners’ needs, while IX Capital Partners – Private Equity adds private equity expertise to Mariner’s broad investment product offerings.
Partnering with New York private equity sponsor Aperion Management and the investee entity’s management team, IX Capital Partners recently sponsored its first private equity investment—the acquisition of Chicago-based RoadSafe Traffic Systems, the largest and only national provider of pavement marking, sign installation and traffic control services and equipment to the roadway construction, and railroad and utility industries in the United States. RoadSafe operates from 31 branch and satellite locations, enabling it to serve projects of any size in over 40 states.
The management team at RoadSafe—including CEO and President David Meirick and Chief Financial Officer Brendan Kissane—will continue leading the 1,000-plus employee company. Over the years, RoadSafe has grown into a nationwide provider with the capability to take on large-scale mandates and execute multistate projects across the country, while still maintaining a focus on safety.
The acquisition of RoadSafe comes at an opportune time, just after the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act was signed into law in December 2015. FAST provides long-term funding certainty for essential transportation projects like new highways and rail transit lines, and has resulted in railroad and utility companies increasingly outsourcing their traffic control requirements to trusted providers.