Loba Capital Management

Loba Capital Management

Matthew Hepler founded Loba Capital Management in 2021 following a seven-year tenure at Apollo Global Management, where he specialized in stressed and distressed credit, most recently as a principal. Hepler's mandate at Apollo covered complex restructurings across the capital structure; Loba represents his effort to apply that same control-oriented, operationally intensive approach to companies below the radar of large private equity platforms. The firm operates from New York. Loba targets North American companies generating $5 million to $15 million in EBITDA that are navigating stressed or distressed balance sheets. The firm's strategy spans first-lien, second-lien, and mezzanine credit, often with a path to control through debt-to-equity conversions or lender-led restructurings. Sectors with confirmed activity include industrials, business services, healthcare, and media. Loba structures investments with an eye toward legal and operational leverage that allows it to drive outcomes in court or out of court, a direct extension of Hepler's documented approach to lender-on-lender violence and coercive restructurings during his Apollo years. The geographical focus remains the United States and Canada. Loba operates with a lean team built around Hepler's direct involvement in every restructuring. In May 2023, the firm closed its inaugural fund above target at approximately $200 million in commitments, raising capital from institutional allocators including endowments and family offices, per public filings. The fund's structure allows for flexible deployment across loan origination, secondary loan purchases, and post-reorganization equity. Loba maintains a network of operating partners drawn from Hepler's restructuring career, deployed on an engagement basis when the firm takes control of a portfolio company. Loba's structural differentiator is its solo-PM architecture applied to distressed credit — a high-touch, high-conviction model that contrasts with the committee-driven processes at multi-strategy credit platforms. Where most distressed funds of Loba's size focus on passive secondary trading, Hepler's firm actively originates bilateral loans and pursues legal remedies to enforce creditor rights. This litigation-aware posture, executed by a single decision-maker with a track record of aggressive creditor actions, gives Loba a speed advantage in situations where restructuring outcomes hinge on rapid tactical decisions.