Prophet Equity Closes Fund II, Wins Turnaround, Team, Deal of the Year and Most Outstanding Private Equity Firm of the Year Award

Prophet Equity formally announced the successful closing of Fund II with $345M of commitments, as of May 30th, at its hard cap, with only 5 months in the market. “We are very pleased to have had such broad domestic and international institutional support across academic endowments, banks, pension plans, fund of funds and family offices”, commented Ross Gatlin, CEO and Managing Partner. “Raising all of the capital, oversubscribed, without a placement agent, in only 5 months speaks volumes about investor confidence in our unique strategy, Holistic Value Creation™ approach and veteran investment team. Importantly, raising Fund II efficiently allows the team to stay focused on our primary investment mission.” Prophet’s principals’ uniquely long, robust and attractive investment track record focused on strategically viable, asset intensive, underperforming companies with significant operational improvement potential was clearly very well received by investors, as was the teams’ hefty $20M commitment to Fund II.

Prophet Equity also received three separate awards at this year’s Global M&A Network Annual Restructuring and Turnaround ceremonies held on June 24, 2014 in Chicago, IL. The Prophet team was very pleased to be honored first with the award for Private Equity Turnaround of the Year – Middle Markets, for its purchase and revitalization of Keywell Metals out of Bankruptcy Court at year end of 2013. Prophet also received the award for Private Equity Turnaround Firm of the Year amongst a host of very well regarded firms in the Turnaround space, as well as, the award for Turnaround Team of the Year.

Additionally, Prophet Equity was named the Most Outstanding Private Equity Firm of the Year in Texas at this year’s International Fund Awards. Winners were announced on April 30, 2014. The International Fund Awards, sponsored by AI Global Media and Acquisition International Magazine, celebrate excellence within Private Equity, Venture Capital, Infrastructure and Real Estate. The International Fund Awards recognize not only fund performance, but also the firms and people behind the scenes that are successfully forming, managing and advising on funds in the current market.

“We are humbled and deeply appreciative of the confidence so many have placed in our award winning strategy, approach and veteran investing team. We will remain vigilant in staying focused not on how much money we raise, but rather how well we can invest each dollar of capital on behalf of our investors. These accolades and awards which the firm has received are very kind and we are very grateful for the recognition of the entire team which is very well deserved,” Gatlin commented.

Additionally, in the midst of fund raising Prophet Equity set their sights on adding to their team and landed Greg Balliro. Greg has joined Prophet Equity as an Associate and will focus on supporting the team across multiple disciplines, including financial modeling, customer research, strategic analysis, operational improvement and implementation activities. Greg comes to Prophet with 5 years of experience, both in private equity and investment banking. In these prior roles he evaluated investment opportunities, actively worked with portfolio companies to evaluate key business decisions, diagnose and implement strategic alternatives including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, while also working successfully to raise debt and equity financing. Greg holds a BA in Economics from Harvard University, where he graduated with Honors.

“We are pleased that Greg chose Prophet from amongst his private equity offers and couldn’t be more excited about the passion and first class investing capability he brings to our niche and the team overall”, commented Senior Executive Director, Charles Collie.

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