Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) announced the expansion of its newly formed Direct Lending business with the hiring of Claude Mattessich and Will McCarthy. Both Mr. Mattessich and Mr. McCarthy have joined the bank as Managing Directors and Senior Originators. Mr. Mattessich will be based in New York City, while Mr. McCarthy will be based in Chicago. Both will report to Christopher Freeman, Managing Director, in the Direct Lending group. Last month, MUFG announced the formation of a Direct Lending group that will focus on providing loans to the bank's private equity sponsor clients to support their portfolio company LBO and recapitalization transactions. The team will
be led by Matt Maley, who joined MUFG in 2018 to run sponsor coverage. With nearly 30 years of professional experience, Mr. Mattessich joins MUFG from CIT Bank, where he focused on managing relationships with private equity firms, investment banks, capital markets, turnaround advisors, and boutique capital providers on financing alternatives. Prior to that, Mr. Mattessich held various roles at Capital One Financial Corp., Merryll Lynch, and Webster Financial Corp. Mr. McCarthy joins MUFG from LBC Credit Partners, where he was part of the Middle Market Leveraged Finance Group, responsible for generating unitranche and senior secured, private-equity owned, leveraged lending opportunities for middle-market funds in the Midwest, as well as in Boston and Connecticut markets. His additional past experience includes roles at ORIX Corporation, ING Capital, and GE Commercial Finance.