History
Leonard Green was founded by Leonard I. Green in 1989 [5] after separating from Gibbons, Green and van Amerongen Ltd. (Gibbons Green), a bank which he had co-founded in 1969 with Edward Gibbons and Lewis van Amerongen. [6] [7] Leonard Green died in 2002, leaving the firm to be run by John G. Danhakl, Peter J. Nolan and Jonathan D. Sokoloff. [5]
The firm's predecessor, Gibbons Green, was among the earliest practitioners of the leveraged and management buyout. [6] [7] Gibbons Green purchased several companies, including Purex Industries in 1982, [8] Budget Rent a Car from Transamerica in 1986 and Kash n' Karry Food Stores in 1988. [6] [7] [9] The company planned to purchase Argonaut Group Inc. in 1987, but withdrew from the buyout. [10]
The dissolution of Gibbons Green and the formation of Leonard Green & Partners is attributed by some to the failure of two buyouts: Ohio Mattress Company and Sheller-Globe Corporation. [11] [12] [13]
In 2007, LGP acquired 17% shares of Whole Foods Market in a PIPE investment deal, "one of the best investments in our firm’s history" according to firm manager Jonathan Sokoloff, because it enabled LGP to acquire J.Crew, BJ’s Wholesale Club and Jo-Ann Stores with the cash made from Whole Foods. [14]
In 2019, LGP named John Baumer and Evan Hershberg co-heads of the Jade Fund. [15]
In March 2020, partners at LGP committed to plans for a $10 million employee-assistance fund for employees of Leonard Green portfolio companies impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. [16] [17]
In March 2025, Leonard Green & Partners won PE Hub's Comprehensive Trade of the Year Award for the sale of $18.25 billion in SRS to Home Depot. [18]
Notable investments
In 2016, LGP closed Green Equity Investors VII, L.P. ("GEI VII"), with $9.6 billion of committed capital. [30] In 2019, LGP raised $14.75 billion for two new funds. [15]
Prospect Medical Holdings
In April, 2025, Upland, Pa., based Crozer Health, which had previously been acquired by Leonard Green & Partners, was closed down after no buyer could be found, laying off 2,600 employees. The Pennsylvania State Attorney General’s office cited Leonard Green’s practices as a primary reason for the closure. [31] Specifically, Leonard Green & Partners-controlled Prospect Medical Holdings used a sale-leaseback strategy as well as other business decisions that a U.S. Senate report described as "[saddling] Crozer with unmanageable lease obligations and even higher levels of debt." [32] The Pennsylvania Attorney General sued Prospect in 2024 for breach of contract, alleging that the company "[diverted] more than $450 million to private investors" and "failed to fully fund the pension accounts for Crozer Keystone retirees." [33] [34] [35]
In February 2021, ProPublica reported on a dispute between LGP and Rhode Island's regulators and legislators over LGP's divestment in Prospect Medical Holdings. [36] [37] Approval for LGP's attempted sale of its 60% stake in Prospect to its co-owners was held up by the Rhode Island attorney general, who, given the dire financial situation LGP was leaving the health system in, conditioned its approval on LGP placing $120-150 million in escrow to back up its two fiscally strained hospitals in the state. LGP had in 2018 initiated a dividend recapitalization which landed it and its investors $658.4 million in dividends and management fees, and the next year sold Prospect's real estate in three states to Medical Properties Trust for $1.386 billion, leaving it with long-term lease obligations of $1.3 billion. In response to the AG's conditions, LGP threatened to shut down the hospitals. The pressure of potential loss of healthcare services led the AG to lower the escrow obligation to $80 million while also requiring LGP to commit over $30 million to the system during the transition. [38]
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