CNL Strategic Capital Exits Resolution Economics Stake for $29.2 Million in Related-Party Deal
The buyer is an entity owned by an affiliate of the company’s own sub-manager, so the sale went through a third-party fairness opinion and a vote of disinterested directors.
October 12, 2026
CNL Strategic Capital, LLC has exited its equity investment in Resolution Economics, realizing net cash proceeds of approximately $29.2 million in a sale to an entity owned in part by an affiliate of the company's own sub-manager.
The sale closed October 2, 2026. CNL Strategic Capital's subsidiary RE Strategic Capital EquityCo, LLC realized its approximately 7.8% indirect equity ownership interest in Resolution Economics, known as ResEcon, with the proceeds figure stated after transaction-related fees and expenses. The exit was carried out through a recapitalization of ResEcon that also repaid the company's approximately $2.8 million debt investment in ResEcon's senior secured subordinated notes.
From Co-Investment to Exit
CNL Strategic Capital first invested in ResEcon on January 2, 2020, acquiring a $10.0 million minority interest through two wholly owned subsidiaries. The position paired an approximately $7.1 million common equity investment with the approximately $2.8 million in notes, and was made as a co-investment alongside debt and equity from the LMM II Fund.
Founded in 1998, ResEcon is a specialty consulting firm serving law firms, corporations and government entities in labor and employment and commercial litigation. It provides economic and statistical analysis and expert testimony in class action, multi-plaintiff and single-plaintiff matters alleging wrongful employment practices, with a focus on discrimination in recruitment and hiring.
A Related-Party Buyer
The equity stake was acquired by REG Investco, LLC, an entity owned by an affiliate of Levine Leichtman Strategic Capital, LLC, CNL Strategic Capital's sub-manager, together with ResEcon management and other existing owners of the business.
Because the purchase and sale agreement was negotiated among related parties, the company disclosed that its terms were not negotiated at arm's length with unaffiliated persons. Two safeguards were applied:
- CNL Strategic Capital received an opinion from Lincoln International, LLC on the fairness of the consideration to the company, limited to a financial point of view.
- A majority of directors not otherwise interested in the transaction, including a majority of the independent directors, approved the deal as fair and reasonable to the company.
Those protections carry weight here because an affiliate of the sub-manager sat on the buy side of a sale by the company it sub-manages. Beyond the fairness opinion and board approval, the disclosure does not describe how the price was set.
The exit trims a portfolio that CNL Strategic Capital added to in June 2025 with a $113.5 million investment for a 91% indirect stake in International Franchise Professionals Group.
