Javier Casillas
Managing Director
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- Full Name
- Javier Casillas
- Title
- Chief Investment Officer & Managing Director, H.I.G. WhiteHorse (also serves as Global Chief Credit Officer)
- Firm
- H.I.G. WhiteHorse — the direct-lending / private-credit affiliate of H.I.G. Capital
- Firm Type
- Private credit / direct lending (affiliate of a global alternative-asset manager; not an angel/seed investor — see note below)
- Investment Stage
- Middle-market direct lending — senior secured floating-rate loans (not venture/seed)
- Check Size
- Transactions generally $40M–$400M, with the ability to hold up to ~$200M per transaction
- Target Company Profile
- U.S. middle-market companies with EBITDA generally between $30M and $100M, both sponsor-backed and non-sponsor borrowers
- Sector Focus
- Broad/industry-agnostic, with notable depth in healthcare, business services, and specialty finance
- Geographic Focus
- United States (H.I.G. WhiteHorse originates through ~24 originators across ~13 regional markets)
- Location
- Miami, Florida
Background
Javier Casillas is Chief Investment Officer and a Managing Director of H.I.G. WhiteHorse, the U.S. direct-lending platform of H.I.G. Capital, a global alternative-asset firm managing roughly $70 billion of capital. He has more than 20 years of experience across credit, private equity, and M&A, and is an original member of H.I.G. WhiteHorse's direct-lending team, involved in all aspects of the investment process — sourcing, structuring, and portfolio management — as well as recruiting and developing the credit team.
He joined H.I.G. in 2006 and has led credit investments across a wide range of sectors, with particular concentration in healthcare, business services, and specialty finance. His career has advanced steadily within the platform: he was named a Managing Director of H.I.G. WhiteHorse in February 2014, was promoted to Chief Credit Officer of the U.S. direct-lending business in January 2022, and now serves as the platform's Chief Investment Officer.
Before joining H.I.G., Casillas was an Associate at ING Americas and a member of the M&A team at J.P. Morgan. He holds a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, and is based in Miami.
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Asset class: Provides debt financing — primarily senior secured, floating-rate loans — rather than equity; this is private credit / direct lending, not venture capital.
- Borrower profile: Lends to both sponsor-backed and non-sponsor middle-market companies, a differentiator versus lenders that only bank private-equity deals.
- Use of proceeds: Financings support refinancings, growth capital, acquisitions, buyouts, and balance-sheet recapitalizations.
- Sizing: Target borrowers with EBITDA of ~$30M–$100M; transaction sizes of $40M–$400M, holding up to ~$200M per deal.
- Underwriting posture: Emphasis on bespoke terms and conservative loan-to-value ratios, with structuring discipline as a core part of the value proposition.
- Sector lens: Industry-agnostic overall, with demonstrated expertise in healthcare, business services, and specialty finance.
Notable Investments
- H.I.G. WhiteHorse Middle Market Lending Fund IV — closed August 2025 at $5.9 billion, continuing the strategy of originating senior secured loans across the U.S. middle market.
- Cumulative track record — approximately $18 billion invested across 285+ middle-market companies in U.S. direct lending.
- Specific borrower names are generally not disclosed publicly for the direct-lending book; concentrations are reported by sector (healthcare, business services, specialty finance) rather than named deals.
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