L.A. Firm Closes In On $250M Target

Riordan Lewis & Haden Equity Partners has so far raised more than $225 million for its third fund, a source close to the fundraising effort told Buyouts.

The Los Angeles-based buyout shop co-founded by former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan is well on its way to its $250 million target and expects to close the fund by the end of the year. Investors so far include Altius Associates, a private equity advisory and fund of funds firm; secondary fund investor Montauk TriGuard, and several family offices.

RLH Equity, as the firm is known, invests $10 million to $50 million in companies that generate annual revenues between $20 million and $250 million. Sectors of interest include business services, health care and government services. In early 2010, the firm also launched an initiative to pursue acquisitions of mid-market companies in the durable goods consumer products sector.

The firm’s portfolio includes CyberCoders, a firm that recruits people for mid-level professions, technical, sales and operational positions; maxIT Healthcare, a company that provides IT consulting services to hospitals; and Total Woman, an operator of women-only fitness and spa centers.

J. Christopher Lewis, a former employee of Bank of America who co-founded the firm in 1982, runs the firm with fellow Managing Directors Michel Glouchevitch, Murray Rudin and Robert Zielinski.

Riordan is no longer involved in the daily activities at the firm but remains a significant investor. Patrick Haden, an attorney, joined the firm in 1987 and was an active partner until last year, when he became athletic director at the University of Southern California, where he was quarterback for the football team in the 1970s (he remains an investor in the firm’s funds and an informal adviser).

RLH Equity closed its previous fund at $265 million in 2007.

Bernard Vaughan is a Senior Editor at Buyouts Magazine. Follow his tweets @BVaughanReuters.