Rattner is an accomplished finance executive with extensive experience in leveraged finance, private equity, and real estate development. He played a key role in building and managing DLJ’s Leveraged Finance business, which became one of the most profitable areas of the firm and on Wall Street overall. He later moved to London to help build out DLJ’s European fixed-income and investment banking operations.
After the DLJ merger with Credit Suisse, Steven became a partner at DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (DLJMBP), where he continued to build on his credit, business, and managerial skills in helping the funds make numerous successful investments across various businesses, including in the hospitality and gaming industry. During his tenure, DLJMBP invested over $7 billion of equity in 78 different companies as the private equity business continued its history of providing their Limited Partners with top-quartile performance.
In addition to his finance expertise, Rattner has significant experience advising senior management teams on developing and executing business plans and financing acquisitions, expansions, start-ups, and buyouts. He has worked with some of the premier companies in the hospitality and gaming industry, including Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Marriott International Inc., Host Hotels and Resorts Inc., Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., Caesars Entertainment Corp., and MGM Resorts International. He has also advised top real estate-focused private equity firms, including The Blackstone Group, Colony Capital, Starwood Capital Group, and Brookfield Asset Management.
Rattner is the founder of JPE Enterprises LLC, a private investment company specializing in large ground-up real estate developments, small to mid-size private equity transactions, and growth capital investments. He invests where he can help the projects with more than just money, be it financial or strategic advice, mentoring, or providing access to people or markets that help dramatically accelerate growth. As an example, he was the co-lead developer of the just completed 1,000,000 square foot 800-room Loews Kansas City Hotel, where he negotiated and then securitized the tax incentives for the project that dramatically reduced the cost per key as well as bringing in Loews Hotels as the operator and equity partner.