Following the sale of the television network he founded, BET, Robert L. Johnson has ventured into many arenas. Now he has launched RLJ Fixed Income, LLC, under his umbrella corporation, The RLJ Companies.
RLJ Fixed Income, in collaboration with Wealth Management Associates, has created a team to acquire bond and other debt instruments in the fixed income markets. "The RLJ Companies continues to demonstrate its ability to attract and manage capital and create value for our investors as we have done with several of our portfolio companies in the financial services and asset management industry sector. Entering into the fixed income industry where we buy and sell bonds is part of our long term goal to become the preeminent minority financial services industry leader," says Johnson.
According to Johnson, his company had asset management offerings including raising a $143 million special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), through RLJ Acquisition, Inc. They also took their hotel private equity fund public on the New York Stock Exchange now called, RLJ Lodging Trust.
“RLJ Fixed Income buys and sells bonds and we trade with major financial institutions like Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche," says Johnson.
Tarik A. Brooks will lead RLJ Fixed Income. Brooks, a graduate of Howard University who received his MBA from the Harvard Business School, has held management positions in several RLJ portfolio companies including Caribbean CAGE, RLJ Kendeja, and RLJ Financial.
The RLJ Companies is a business network that provides strategic investments in a diverse portfolio of companies. Within The RLJ Companies portfolio, Johnson owns or holds interests in businesses operating in hotel real estate investment; private equity; financial services; asset management; insurance services; automobile dealerships; sports and entertainment; and video lottery terminal (VLT) gaming.
The RLJ Companies includes: RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ); RLJ Acquisition, which made Johnson the first African American to successfully complete a SPAC raise; RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings, LLC, the nation's largest minority-owned automotive group; RLJ Western Asset Management, LLC, a $2.8 billion fund designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to purchase mortgage backed securities through the Public Private Investment Program (PPIP); RLJ Equity Partners, a private equity fund with $230M in assets under management. RLJ Acquisition (RLJA) and RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ) are the second and third companies Johnson has taken public, respectively. (In 1991, Johnson took Black Entertainment Television (BET) public making BET the first African American company to be publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.)
