Holly Huels has broad experience financing and investing in private equity transactions for over 30 years. During these years, Ms. Huels has been involved in every aspect of private equity fund formation, documentation, reporting, investing, board oversight, and harvesting. She has expertise in negotiating and structuring complex private equity investments as well as working with lower-middle market businesses, executives and management teams. Ms. Huels has substantial industry contacts in the private equity community across the US.

In 2016, Ms. Huels co-founded Holleway Capital Partners (“Holleway”). Holleway is a St. Louis, Missouri-based private equity fund focused on control buyouts of lower middle market manufacturing and distribution companies located in the greater Midwest and Southern US. Holleway backs management teams running companies with $2-$10MM of EBITDA providing succession and liquidity to owners. Holleway received its Small Business Investment Company (“SBIC”) license and began investing from its $75 million fund in 2018.

Prior to founding Holleway, Holly spent 22 years with Capital For Business (“CFB”), the St. Louis-based SBIC subsidiary of Commerce Bancshares. CFB is a captive series of private equity funds focused on investing in lower middle market manufacturing and distribution companies. During her tenure at CFB, over 80 platform and add-on transactions were completed and CFB averaged holdings in over 22 portfolio company investments. Ms. Huels led 20 transactions, exited 10, and participated on the board of directors of 23 private companies. Ms. Huels was instrumental in the development and execution of CFB’s investment model and strategy as well as the complex series limited partnership structure utilized by CFB. Joining as an Analyst in 1993, she rose to general partner and was an owner in CFB Fund II, III, IV, and V.

Ms. Huels departed CFB in August 2015 and formed an independent sponsor entity called Corporate Capital Partners, LLC (“CCP”). In 2015, CCP and Ms. Huels led the acquisition of an Indiana-based plastics logistics company which represented Holly’s 21st lower middle-market buyout transaction.

Ms. Huels was the first woman Chairman of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (“NASBIC”), now called Small Business Investors Alliance (“SBIA”). SBIA is a national trade association of lower middle market private equity fund managers and investors. The SBIA plays an important role in supporting and providing advocacy to SBIC licensees, non-SBIC private equity funds and limited partners. Ms. Huels is currently the President-elect and will be the first woman President of the St. Louis chapter of the Association of Corporate Growth (“ACG”).

Ms. Huels earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri and a BSBA in Accounting from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She is a CPA (inactive). Personally, she enjoys traveling with her husband and three children as well as horseback riding, snow skiing and water skiing.