Seabury Group, a global advisory and professional services firm, announced it launched a merchant banking platform within Seabury Corporate Finance, a division under its recently announced Seabury Advisory Group (SAG), which is led by SAG’s president & CEO Christopher E. Kubasik.

Seabury Corporate Finance, under the leadership of Patrick Henry Dowling, senior managing director, will focus on its existing businesses, which include Aerospace & Defense M&A Advisory, Structured Finance, Maritime Corporate Finance, and the company’s newly created merchant banking platform, Capital Management.

All four businesses will leverage Seabury’s deep industry knowledge, core competencies and proven in-market expertise to provide value-added benefits to its worldwide network of clients in the aviation, aerospace & defense and transportation industries.

Dowling, who recently joined Seabury, has extensive experience in the industry, which includes partnership at Massif Partners, executive positions as senior managing director & group head of Aerospace & Defense at Tygris Commercial Finance Group, managing director & general manager of CIT Leveraged Finance Transportation, and an extensive career as managing director with GE Capital.

“Seabury’s move into Merchant Banking is a natural fit as it builds on deep and extensive knowledge of a highly adept and experienced team of industry experts,” said SAG’s president & CEO Christopher E. Kubasik. “Pat Dowling’s nearly four decades of finance experience, complemented by a team of strong industry veterans, provides an ideal environment which leverages our strengths and will deliver results for our clients.”

Dowling commented, “Seabury has a well-known brand in the aviation, aerospace & defense and transportation industries, with a unique cross-selling and sharing opportunity within our businesses that originate unique and attractive investment opportunities. We have had a successful track record of creating such transactions on a one-off basis for our clients and we are now well positioned to invest side by side with our clients or provide financing. The Merchant Banking’s investment thesis is centered on three key strategies: Minority Equity Investing, Private Label Commercial Aircraft Leasing and Private Debt Financing.

Dowling will lead global operations of Seabury Corporate Finance with the support of his executive team consisting of Brian Karpiel, managing director of Seabury Aerospace & Defense M&A Advisory in North America, Antares Reis, managing director of Seabury Aerospace & Defense M&A Advisory, Michael Lypka, managing director of Seabury Structured Finance and Jonathan Montbach, senior vice president of Seabury Maritime Corporate Finance.