FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 20, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - American Beacon Advisors, Inc. ("American Beacon"), an experienced provider of investment advisory services to institutional and retail markets, announced today that its parent company, Lighthouse Holdings, Inc., has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by investment funds affiliated with Kelso & Company and Estancia Capital Management, two leading private equity firms. Lighthouse Holdings, Inc. is majority owned by investment funds affiliated with TPG Capital and Pharos Capital Group, LLC.

The parties expect to close the sale in the second quarter of 2015 subject to satisfactory completion of customary closing conditions, including approvals of the Board of Trustees and shareholders of the American Beacon family of mutual funds and consents from other American Beacon clients. Terms of the agreement were not otherwise disclosed.

"We are pleased to welcome our new partners Kelso and Estancia and are looking forward to building on our successes with a new ownership team," said Gene L. Needles, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of American Beacon. "This partnership enables us to move forward with the same focus on and commitment to our clients with no disruption to our day-to-day operations. Additionally, Kelso's and Estancia's resources will help accelerate our strategic growth plans to the benefit of our clients."

"We are delighted to partner with Gene and his team," said Chris Collins, Managing Director of Kelso & Company. "American Beacon has established itself as a premier asset management platform, and we look forward to supporting the company in its next phase of growth."

Takashi Moriuchi, Partner of Estancia Capital Management, added, "We are excited to support management as they continue to build on their successful track record of creating and distributing thoughtful, high-quality investment solutions to meet the demands of institutional and retail clients."

"It has been a great experience working with the management team at American Beacon and partnering with TPG on this investment over the last six years," said Kneeland Youngblood, Founding Partner at Pharos Capital. "The company has had impressive growth under our watch, and we are confident that the new owners will be a great fit for the company. I also would like to thank American Airlines Group, which entrusted us with their assets, and Bill Quinn, founder of American Beacon, who I have been fortunate to have worked closely with for over 15 years in different capacities."

Kelso & Company and Estancia Capital Management are being advised by Sandler O'Neill + Partners, L.P. American Beacon is being advised by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. RBC Capital Markets and Barclays are providing committed debt financing for the transaction.

About American Beacon Advisors

Established in 1986, American Beacon Advisors, Inc. is an experienced provider of investment advisory services to institutional and retail markets. American Beacon Advisors serves defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, foundations, endowments, corporations and other institutional investors, as well as retail clients. The firm also provides corporate cash management and fixed-income separate account management.

American Beacon Advisors manages the American Beacon Funds, a series of low-cost mutual funds. The Funds employ a "manager of managers" investment style and currently include international and domestic equity, fixed-income and money market funds. As of Sept. 30, 2014, American Beacon Advisors had $57.2 billion in assets under management. For more information, go to http://www.americanbeaconfunds.com or follow on Twitter via @AmBeacon.

About Kelso & Company

Kelso & Company has been investing in North American private equity for over 33 years. Kelso benefits from a successful investment track record, a long-tenured and stable investing team, a reputation as a preferred partner to management teams and strategics, and a significant alignment of interest with all of its partners. Since 1980, Kelso has raised a total of eight private equity funds, representing over $8 billion of outside LP capital, and has made over 110 investments. Kelso was founded by Louis Kelso, commonly referred to as the inventor of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan ("ESOP"). The tenets of the Kelso ESOP heritage, including a significant alignment of interest and history of partnership, remain key components of the firm's strategy and differentiation. For more information, visit http://www.kelso.com.

About Estancia Capital Management

Estancia is a specialist private equity firm focused on small to lower middle market investments in Institutional Quality asset management, wealth management and related business services firms. Estancia's Principals have a history of partnering with management and investment teams in providing equity, growth and working capital to facilitate strategic development of portfolio companies including management buy-outs from larger financial firms, private ownership/succession transitions, growth initiatives and investment team lift-outs. Estancia is currently investing its first institutional fund, Estancia Capital Partners, L.P., on behalf of a diversified base of approximately 40 Limited Partners. For more information, visit http://www.estanciapartners.com.

About TPG

TPG is a leading global private investment firm founded in 1992 with $66 billion of assets under management and offices in San Francisco, Fort Worth, Austin, Dallas, Houston, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. TPG has extensive experience with global public and private investments executed through leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts, growth investments, joint ventures and restructurings. The firm's investments span a variety of industries including healthcare, energy, industrials, consumer/ retail, technology, media & communications, software, financial services, travel, entertainment and real estate. For more information visit http://www.tpg.com.

About Pharos Capital Group

Based in Dallas and Nashville, Pharos Capital Group is a long-term, value-focused investor with over $1 billion in assets under management. Pharos primarily invests $25 to $40 million for majority positions in rapidly growing middle market companies seeking later stage funding for internal growth, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, or recapitalizations across industry sectors, with particular focus on healthcare and business services. Pharos typically invests in undercapitalized businesses in underserved regions across the nation.

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