Comvest sets up shop in the Windy City

Florida-headquartered Comvest Partners has opened a new office in Chicago, which it plans to use to expand origination for its direct lending and control equity strategies. The firm closed its third direct lending fund with $450 million in capital in June, above its $350 million target.

As part of the Chicago expansion, Comvest hired Jon Huitink as a principal. He will join Comvest managing director Greg Reynolds and associate Tim Kim in the Chicago office. Prior to joining Comvest, Huitink was a senior vice president with Golub Capital, where he originated, underwrote and monitored secured debt investments across the capital structure. Prior to Golub, he underwrote and managed senior and junior debt investments at Dymas Capital Management, where he worked closely with Reynolds.

Reynolds was a director at Dymas for eight years prior to joining Comvest in 2010. Before Dymas, Reynolds was an assistant vice president at Heller Financial, a lending business sold to GE in 2001. Many Chicago-based debt executives trace their roots back to Heller.

Chicago has a sizeable lending scene, with many US firms, including Golub, Ares Management and Babson Capital housing senior lending professionals there. THL Credit also has its tradable credit group in Chicago. About a handful are headquartered in the Windy City. They include Monroe Capital, Madison Capital Funding, Maranon Capital, NXT Capital, Angelo, Gordon-owned Twin Brook Capital Partners and Victory Park Capital.

Comvest Partners is a private investment firm that provides equity and debt capital to mid-market companies across the US. Since its founding in 2000, the firm has invested $1.9 billion. Comvest’s funds have about $2.3 billion of assets under management. The firm is headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida and also has an office in New York.