Forstmann & Co. Information

In 1967, Forstmann Leff & Associates was founded as private investment partnership with the very specific objective of managing other people’s money intensively for high rates of return. Risk and reward were the constant determinants of capital commitments. Long, short, and cash were the order of the day based on internal and external research. The firm was one of the first hedge funds in the US, following the AW Jones model that had proven to be a novel way to invest partnership money. The firm was a leader in attracting major corporate accounts, who were searching for more aggressive and innovative ways to deploy their pension funds. Clients included, but not limited to: Intel, Pfizer, Standard Oil of Indiana, The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp, The Ford Family, Northrop, Honeywell, Lockheed, Northwest Airlines, Knight Ridder, Delta, MCA, Raychem, Chrysler, City of New York, State of Minnesota, State of Maine, Holy Cross University, The Archdiocese of New York, The Major League Players Pension. In 1975, Mr. Theodore Forstmann, a brother, lawyer, and new business partner, at Forstmann Leff & Associates, decided to form a partnership with Mr. Nick Forstmann, who was at JP Morgan, and Mr. Brian Little, a banker at White Weld, to build the second Leverage Buy-Out firm in the US. With the financial support of Forstmann Leff & Associates and the introduction to their clients, Forstmann Little was off to a fast start. At its peak in the late 1990s, Forstmann Little was among the largest LBO/private equity firms. Since its inception, the firm had made more than 30 significant acquisitions, including: IMG, ABC Citadel, Gulfstream Aerospace, Dr. Pepper, 24 Hour Fitness, Community Health Hospitals, General Instruments. In 1998, Forstmann & Co. was formed as a merchant bank and a private investment firm focused on acquiring, advising, investing and scaling businesses with strong management teams that can create and execute magnitude of change to its respective industry.