Donald Quintin joined Lone Star Funds in 2010 and became its CEO in 2024. Previously, he worked at Merrill Lynch and Salomon Brothers. Lone Star, founded in 1995, invests across private equity, credit, and real estate. Headquartered in London, the group has offices around the globe, from Dallas to Tokyo. It had about $36bn in assets under management as of the end of 2025, according to regulatory filings.
Unhedged: How do Lone Star's three strategies — buyout, commercial real estate and credit — fit together? Quintin explains the fund started in commercial real estate during the savings and loan crisis, pivoting through the Japan banking crisis, then Europe. As opportunities expanded, it split into commercial real estate and an opportunistic strategy during the financial crisis, later dividing that into credit and traditional buyouts. Across all strategies, Lone Star remains dedicated to value investing.
We focus on transactions with asset backing or reliable cash flow, emphasizing entry price discipline and business improvement opportunities like corporate carve-outs. The real alpha comes from improving margins or cash flow rather than revenue growth or multiple expansion.
Having navigated the financial crisis taught Quintin appreciation for excess leverage risks. He started at Salomon Brothers in fixed income mortgage trading before moving to Merrill Lynch at the onset of the financial crisis.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing