Higher Education Finance Quarterly

Cain Brothers, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets, served as exclusive advisor to Allied OMS on its minority recapitalization by 65 Equity Partners, while KeyBanc Capital Markets served as exclusive debt advisor to raise senior debt facilities.

Leveraging a longstanding relationship with management and expertise in the dental sector, Cain Brothers worked with the Company’s leadership to pursue a strategic partnership that aligned with Allied OMS’ strategic vision. The investment by 65 Equity Partners positions the Company for its next phase of growth while preserving its doctor-led model and operational independence.

In parallel, KBCM advised on a new senior credit facility to refinance the Company’s debt facility and provide capital to support continued expansion. The new financing is comprised of a $165 million Term Loan, a $20 million Revolving Credit Facility and a $60 million Delayed Draw Term Loan.

Allied OMS is a doctor-owned, -led and -governed MSO that partners with oral and maxillofacial surgery practices across the U.S. Combining the autonomy of private practice with the scale and sophistication of institutional support, Allied OMS empowers surgeons to lead the future of their specialty. The Company currently supports surgeons in 50+ locations and maintains doctor leadership across all major committees and its Board of Directors.

65 Equity Partners is a global investment firm that supports founders in their growth journey. With $3.3 billion in funds under management and a mandate to invest in entrepreneur-led businesses, 65EP backs companies across healthcare, technology, consumer, industrials, and business services. The firm is backed by Temasek and has offices in Singapore, London, Paris, San Francisco, and New York.

Cain Brothers, a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets, served as exclusive financial advisor to Western Washington Medical Group in the formation and capitalization of a management services organization with IKS Health.

Cain Brothers was engaged based on its expertise and experience in advising multi-specialty physician groups and its success in structuring innovative, value-aligned partnerships. The joint venture supports WWMG’s long-term goals of clinical independence, operational efficiency and sustainable growth.

WWMG represents over 100 providers in 20+ specialty areas serving patients and their families in the north Puget Sound region of Washington. The providers are owners of WWMG, and live and work in the communities they serve. For over 30 years, WWMG’s mission provides clinicians the freedom to practice medicine with compassion and in the best interest of patients and their communities.

IKS Health takes on the chores of healthcare — spanning administrative, clinical, and operational burdens — so that clinicians can focus on their core purpose: delivering great care. Combining technology and dedicated experts, IKS enables stronger, financially sustainable enterprises. IKS’s Care Enablement Platform delivers data-driven value and expertise across the care journey, and IKS is a partner for clinician enterprises looking to effectively scale, improve quality, and achieve cost savings through forward-thinking solutions. Founded in 2006, IKS’s global workforce supports large health systems across the United States. 

KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI) provided a $32 million tax-exempt construction loan and a $15 million taxable construction loan to finance the new construction of El Camino Commons, an affordable multifamily housing property in Oceanside, California. The $27.8 million permanent loan will be privately placed with one of KeyBank Commercial Mortgage Group’s (CMG) institutional investors. 

El Camino Real Apartments will be a four-story residential building with 111 units consisting of two and three-bedroom apartments for families earning between 30% and 80% of area median income (AMI). The property will include a leasing office and a community area within a 6,500 square foot common space, including outdoor recreational space and central laundry rooms on each floor. Supportive Services will be provided by Mission Neighborhood Centers (MNC), which offers educational programs, workforce development, homelessness prevention, and social services.

The sponsor, Mirka Investment, is a real estate development firm known for its high-quality affordable multifamily rental communities as well as their assistance of underserved and diverse portions of the population, including financially struggling families, veterans, seniors, formerly homeless, and developmentally disabled individuals.

The project secured an additional $32 million construction loan from the California Municipal Finance Authority through a Multifamily Housing Private Activity Bond issuance, $12.9 million in certificated credits from the City of Oceanside State Housing Tax Credit program via Monarch Private Capital, and $16 million in Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity from WNC.

El Camino Real Apartments will be located in Oceanside, California, just north of Carlsbad. The development benefits from excellent transportation access and proximity to essential community amenities, including quality schools and supportive services.

Matthew Haas of KeyBank CDLI’s Western Regional team structured the financing. Hector Zuniga of KeyBank CMG arranged the permanent financing.  

On June 27, 2025, KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. (KBCM) successfully closed the syndication of $350 million Senior Secured Credit Facilities for Tule River Tribe Gaming Authority, an instrumentality of the Tule River Indian Tribe. The Credit Facilities include a $100 million Revolver, $100 million Term Loan and $150 million Delayed Draw Term Loan, which will refinance existing indebtedness and fund construction of the Tribe’s Eagle Mountain Casino ~$280 million expansion project. KBCM acted as Left Lead Arranger, Joint Bookrunner, and Administrative Agent.

This transaction represents KBCM’s second left lead syndicated transaction with Tule River Tribe Gaming Authority. They selected KBCM due to our longstanding relationship with the Tribe and management team, our extensive knowledge and experience within the Native American Financial Services industry, and successful track record of syndicating transactions in the gaming space.

About Tule River Indian Tribe
The Tule River Indian Tribe is a federally recognized Indian tribe comprised of over 1,900 members. The Tribe’s reservation covers almost 85 square miles in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

About Eagle Mountain Casino
Eagle Mountain Casino reopened to the public in May 2023 after relocating to Porterville, California, and currently features 1,750 slot machines, 20 table games, multiple restaurants and a 2,000-seat event center. The project will transform the Casino into a destination-style resort featuring a 193-room hotel, conference and meeting space, pool, spa, lazy river and other premium amenities. Construction will be completed in two overlapping phases, with final completion expected in May 2027.

In June 2025, KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. (KBCM) successfully closed $280 million of Senior Secured Credit Facilities (the Facilities) for Scout Clean Energy’s Gonzaga Ridge Wind Project in Merced County, California. The Facilities include a Construction Loan, a Transfer Bridge Loan, and Letter of Credit Facility. Proceeds will be used to fund construction of the 147.5 MW wind repowering project, which revitalizes the original 18 MW Gonzaga Ridge wind farm built in the 1980s. KBCM acted as Coordinating Lead Arranger and Administrative Agent.

About Scout Clean Energy
Scout Clean Energy is a renewable energy developer and owner-operator based in Boulder, Colorado with a nationwide portfolio of wind, solar, and storage projects totaling 1.6 GW of operating and construction capacity, 2.1 GW of late-stage development assets, and a 19+ GW development pipeline. Scout has expertise in all aspects of renewables project development, permitting, power marketing, finance, construction, 24/7 operations, and asset management. Scout is a portfolio company managed by Brookfield Asset Management, which acquired Scout in 2022.

KBCM Relationship
Scout Clean Energy is a longstanding client of Key across multiple financing and M&A transactions. In 2022, KBCM advised Quinbrook on their $1 billion sale of Scout to Brookfield Renewable. This financing represents the ninth transaction between Scout and KBCM and the 11th transaction between Brookfield Renewable and KBCM.

KeyBank Real Estate Capital provided a $67.5 million bridge loan to assist The Hamilton Company with the acquisition of Hill Estates — a 396-unit multifamily residential community located in Belmont, Massachusetts, and two office properties located nearby at a campus off Brighton Street in the town’s easternmost neighborhood. The bridge loan will provide adequate time for the sponsor to best position the asset for a permanent agency financing.

The Hamilton Company will staff an on-site management office and operate all property management and maintenance functions for the 396 units and all common areas. Residents will also have access to the Hamilton’s full range of online tenant services, including online rent payments, maintenance requests, and renter’s insurance.

The two off-site commercial properties will be marketed and sold by The Hamilton Company as they are not part of the core business and revenue model of the Hill Estates residential community. The company plans to make significant capital improvements to the property including the renovation of all units.

“We are thrilled to have played a role in assisting Hamilton grow their robust portfolio through the addition of a legacy multifamily property in a preeminent Boston community,” said T.J. Hussey, relationship manager, KeyBank Real Estate Capital Income Property Group. “We look forward to seeing Hill Estates reach its full potential with the planned capital improvements and operations under Hamilton’s stewardship.” 

Founded in 1954 with the acquisition of a six-unit building, The Hamilton Company, owned by Harold Brown, has become one of the largest privately held real estate organizations in New England. The acquisition of the Belmont property enlarges their portfolio of premier residential properties to nearly 6,000 units in the Greater Boston area.

On June 13, 2025, KeyBanc Capital Markets successfully advised Quavo, Inc. (Quavo), a leading provider of fraud and dispute management technology, on its sale to Spectrum Equity Management, L.P. (Spectrum Equity). 

Quavo is the category leader in end-to-end dispute management software, solving a mission-critical challenge for banks, credit unions and fintechs by streamlining every step of the consumer transaction dispute process. Quavo’s solutions enable financial institutions to deliver faster, more transparent, and more reliable dispute resolutions for account holders – helping build trust, strengthen loyalty, and modernize the way institutions engage with their account holders. QFD, the company’s flagship solution, automates the intake, investigation, chargeback, recovery, and client communications workflows across all payment methods and dispute types while ensuring regulatory compliance and enhancing the account holder experience.

Founded in 1994, Spectrum Equity is a leading growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support to innovative companies in the information economy. The firm partners with management teams to build long-term value in market-leading software, data, and information services companies. Spectrum has invested in 180+ companies and raised $11 billion in Institutional capital since founding. With offices in Boston, San Francisco, and London, the firm is investing its 10th fund.

On June 10, 2025, KeyBanc Capital Markets (KBCM) successfully advised Thermogenics (the Company), a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity (Audax), on its sale to Morgan Stanley Capital Partners (Morgan Stanley). KBCM was chosen to serve as Thermogenics’ Sell-Side Advisor based on its industry-leading Industrial & Business Services practice, longstanding relationship with Audax and the Company, and proven M&A execution capabilities. KBCM previously advised Thermogenics in its sale to Audax in 2022.

Thermogenics is a provider of boiler lifecycle solutions in North America, offering boiler service & maintenance, equipment sales, and rental solutions for its customers' mission critical boilers in industrial, commercial, and institutional sectors. With 24/7 factory-trained technician support and its boiler rentals solution set, Thermogenics and its affiliated brands function as a one-stop shop for its customers' most complex steam and heating needs. Headquartered in Aurora, ON, Thermogenics operates across North America with locations in Ottawa, ON, Cincinnati, OH, Jacksonville, FL, Orlando, FL, Sioux City, IA, West Hartford, CT, Greensboro, NC, Apache Junction, AZ and Las Vegas, NV.

Headquartered in Boston, with offices in San Francisco, New York, London and Hong Kong, Audax Private Equity manages three strategies: its Flagship and Origins private equity strategies, seeking control buyouts in the core middle and lower middle markets, respectively, and its Strategic Capital strategy that provides customized equity solutions to PE-backed portfolio companies to help drive continued growth. With approximately $19 billion of assets under management as of March 2025, over 290 team members, and 100-plus investment professionals, Audax has invested in more than 175 platforms and over 1,350 add-on acquisitions since its founding in 1999. Through our disciplined Buy & Build approach, across six core industry verticals, Audax seeks to help portfolio companies execute organic and inorganic growth initiatives with the aim of fueling revenue expansion, optimizing operations, and significantly increasing equity value.

Morgan Stanley is a leading middle-market private equity platform focused on privately negotiated equity and equity-related investments primarily in North America. The firm seeks to create value in portfolio companies primarily in a series of subsectors in the industrial and business services, healthcare and consumer markets.