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Muni Lender Preston Hollow Is Exploring a Sale

Construction at the new Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital in Los Angeles. (Eric Thayer/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Preston Hollow Community Capital, a municipal finance lender, is exploring strategic options including a sale, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Dallas-based company is working with an adviser to solicit interest from potential suitors, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential information. No final decisions have been made and a transaction isn’t guaranteed.

Preston Hollow has invested more than $5.2 billion in municipal bonds since its founding in 2014 and has raised $1.6 billion from investors including Stone Point Capital, HarbourVest Partners and Nuveen LLC’s TIAA, according to a September release. 

Representatives for Preston Hollow, Nuveen and HarbourVest declined to comment. A representative for Stone Point did not respond to a request for comment. 

The firm is one of the only direct lenders in the muni market for riskier borrowers such as hospitals, colleges and real estate developers. Jim Thompson, Preston Hollow’s chairman and chief executive officer, has invested $100 million of his own money into the firm.

Preston Hollow occupies a niche between banks that lend to municipalities with strong credit ratings and individuals and mutual funds that buy traditional bonds. The firm helps borrowers structure bond issuances through public agencies, buys the debt and then bundles them into securities.

--With assistance from Martin Z. Braun.

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