Fifth Street Finance Corp. announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Patrick J. Dalton as Chief Executive Officer and elected him as a member of the Board of Directors, effective January 2, 2017. Dalton will succeed Todd G. Owens, who will continue in his roles as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors until that time to facilitate a smooth transition. The Company also announced that Ivelin M. Dimitrov will step down from his roles as President, Chief Investment Officer and a member of the Board of Directors, effective January 2, 2017.
Dalton joins Fifth Street from Gordon Brothers Finance Company, where he served as President, CEO and Chair of the Investment Committee from 2012 to 2016. Prior to that role, he was President and Chief Operating Officer at Apollo Investment Corporation from 2008 to 2012; Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager at Apollo Investment Management, L.P. from 2007 to 2012; and a partner at Apollo Global Management from 2004 to 2012. Dalton previously served as a Vice President at Goldman, Sachs & Co., Chase Securities Corp. and Chase Manhattan Bank.
“We’re incredibly excited to have Patrick, an accomplished investment management executive with demonstrated success managing a public business development company, taking the reins at FSC,” said Bernard D. Berman, Chairman of the FSC Board of Directors. “Given his more than 25 years of investment experience, we’re pleased that Patrick will take over primary responsibility for all aspects of FSC’s investment and operating strategy. We are confident that Patrick has the unique skills and experience to continue executing on FSC’s goal of driving shareholder value. We sincerely thank both Todd and Ivelin for their numerous contributions to FSC and we are confident that they will both help ensure a smooth leadership transition.”
“I welcome the opportunity to lead FSC and look forward to leveraging Fifth Street’s middle-market direct origination platform as we continue to seek investment opportunities with strong risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders,” said Mr. Dalton. “Importantly, I plan to focus a large portion of my time on improving the company’s performance and operations, stabilizing NAV and furthering our alignment with shareholders. I am confident that we will be well-positioned to improve returns for our shareholders over the long-term.”
Dalton will also join Fifth Street Asset Management Inc. as Co-President, effective January 2nd, succeeding Todd Owens who will be stepping down.
Dalton is an accomplished investment management executive with over 25 years of investment and leadership experience. Most recently, from 2012 to 2016, Dalton was the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gordon Brothers Finance Company (“GBFC”), a portfolio company of BlackRock Capital Corporation since October 2014. GBFC is a commercial finance company that provides cash flow, asset-based and hybrid term loans to middle-market companies in North America and Europe. Prior to joining GBFC, Dalton was with Apollo Global Management from 2004 to 2012 where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Apollo Investment Corporation from 2008 to 2012 and served as Chief Investment Officer of Apollo Investment Management from 2007 to 2012. As one of the founding partners of Apollo Global Management, his contributions were instrumental to the firm’s development and growth, leading over $8.6 billion of investments across 165 portfolio companies from 2004 through 2011, as well as successfully navigating though the Great Recession. In addition to managing Apollo Investment Corporation, Dalton co-founded Apollo’s CLO platform, managed one of Apollo’s first Credit Opportunity Funds and was instrumental in founding Apollo’s European credit platform in 2006. Earlier in his career, Dalton served as a Vice President of Goldman Sachs & Co.'s GS Mezzanine Funds and a Vice President at Chase Securities, Inc. and The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS in Finance from Boston College. Dalton was the founding sponsor for the Private Equity Mentorship Program at Columbia Business School.
Fifth Street Finance Corp. is a leading specialty finance company that provides custom-tailored financing solutions to small and mid-sized companies, primarily in connection with investments by private equity sponsors. The company originates and invests in one-stop financings, first lien, second lien, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments.