Key Takeaways
- • Black Saddle Capital Partners, a Dallas-based investment firm founded in 2020, is pursuing diversified strategies in the secondary private capital market beyond traditional limited partner interest acquisition.
- • The firm has closed two transactions totaling approximately $10 million in assets under management over the past two years, demonstrating active deployment in secondary market opportunities.
- • Black Saddle's business model focuses on providing multiple forms of liquidity solutions to lower-middle market private equity sponsors, including direct LP interest acquisition, senior-secured NAV loans, and preferred equity financing.
- • Co-founder and Partner Daniel Gillespie has signaled the firm's strategic intent to develop more creative deal structures and solutions within the expanding secondary market space.
Summary
Black Saddle Capital Partners, headquartered in Dallas and established in 2020, is positioning itself to capture growth opportunities in the secondary private capital market through a multi-faceted liquidity solutions approach. The firm extends beyond conventional secondary market strategies of purchasing limited partnership interests, instead targeting creative and differentiated deal structures tailored to the evolving needs of lower-middle market private equity sponsors.
Over the past two years, Black Saddle has demonstrated execution capability by closing two transactions representing approximately $10 million in aggregate assets. This activity signals the firm's ability to source and close deals in a competitive market while building operational infrastructure and deal flow networks.
The firm's platform encompasses several complementary liquidity products designed to address sponsor capital needs. Beyond direct acquisition of LP interests—the traditional cornerstone of secondary market investing—Black Saddle offers senior-secured NAV-based lending facilities and preferred equity solutions. This diversified product suite allows the firm to address a broader range of sponsor use cases, from portfolio company refinancing to fund continuation strategies and interim liquidity solutions.
According to co-founder Daniel Gillespie, Black Saddle is deliberately exploring beyond standard LP interest purchases to develop more sophisticated and tailored solutions within the secondary market. This positioning reflects broader market trends toward specialization and customized capital structures in private credit and secondaries, where traditional PE sponsors increasingly seek flexible, relationship-driven capital providers rather than purely transactional players. The firm's focus on the lower-middle market segment aligns with the substantial untapped liquidity demand in that segment, where smaller fund sizes and sponsor bases have historically received less attention from mega-cap secondaries players.
Over the past two years, Black Saddle has demonstrated execution capability by closing two transactions representing approximately $10 million in aggregate assets. This activity signals the firm's ability to source and close deals in a competitive market while building operational infrastructure and deal flow networks.
The firm's platform encompasses several complementary liquidity products designed to address sponsor capital needs. Beyond direct acquisition of LP interests—the traditional cornerstone of secondary market investing—Black Saddle offers senior-secured NAV-based lending facilities and preferred equity solutions. This diversified product suite allows the firm to address a broader range of sponsor use cases, from portfolio company refinancing to fund continuation strategies and interim liquidity solutions.
According to co-founder Daniel Gillespie, Black Saddle is deliberately exploring beyond standard LP interest purchases to develop more sophisticated and tailored solutions within the secondary market. This positioning reflects broader market trends toward specialization and customized capital structures in private credit and secondaries, where traditional PE sponsors increasingly seek flexible, relationship-driven capital providers rather than purely transactional players. The firm's focus on the lower-middle market segment aligns with the substantial untapped liquidity demand in that segment, where smaller fund sizes and sponsor bases have historically received less attention from mega-cap secondaries players.
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