A finance firm operating as both advisor and principal.
The Catalyst specializes in institutional capital formation, facility development, and strategic partnership origination, serving universities, athletic conferences, and sports infrastructure stakeholders.
We operate as both financial advisor and co principal on structured transactions, maintaining an active deal pipeline across HBCU athletics, municipal sports facilities, and private placement debt programs.
Aligned at the deal level, not just at arm's length.
Relationship management across the full transaction lifecycle.
Athletic departments, conference bodies, and university systems.
The Catalyst Program
In partnership with Astin Capital Management Limited, L5SG structures and originates proprietary institutional debt instruments designed to deliver meaningful, durable liquidity to athletic departments, conference bodies, and university systems.
Instruments structured to preserve institutional ownership and control while unlocking balance-sheet value tied to real property, facilities, and long-term revenue streams.
Each solution is underwritten with attention to equity impact and institutional mission alignment, not price alone.
Structured so liquidity events strengthen, rather than compromise, the financial independence of partner institutions.
Complementary, equity-accretive opportunities
Beyond core capital solutions, The Catalyst provides development services that generate incremental revenue and create measurable, enduring equity value for university partners.
Professionally structured franchise arrangements creating recurring, scalable revenue and brand equity for athletic programs and affiliated entities.
Curated IP and brand-licensing programs that monetize institutional assets and generate royalty income—without diluting ownership.
Tailored participation structures that let university partners retain ownership stakes in ventures developed on or adjacent to institutional assets.
Collaborative public-private equity arrangements that align community development objectives with institutional financial goals.
Facility development, infrastructure advisory, and strategic partnership services that expand value across every engagement.
Designed to strengthen both the financial standing and long-term strategic positioning of each institution.
Discuss your program →Three firms, one integrated mandate.
Each engagement draws on a complementary alliance: L5 Sports Group originates and advises, Astin Capital structures and funds, and Tarkett Sports designs and builds the facilities that capital makes possible.
Holds the university and conference relationships. Originates opportunities, advises on strategy, and acts as co-principal to keep every transaction aligned with the institution's mission.
The capital-markets engine. Structures and arranges the institutional debt instruments, reaching a global network of investors to deliver durable liquidity at optimized cost.
The build partner. Designs and delivers premier playing surfaces and sports infrastructure, turning financed capital into completed, revenue-generating facilities.
Astin Capital Management Limited is a London-based investment management and capital-markets advisory firm founded in 2002, providing innovative private capital-market solutions for institutions and corporate clients.
Combining deep expertise in structured finance with capital-markets insight, Astin develops tailored funding structures that optimize access to capital while reducing cost, reaching traditional and alternative sources through a global network of institutions, family offices, and high-net-worth investors.
Founded Astin in 2002 after a career in derivatives, structured finance, and capital markets. A Yale economics graduate, he began as a derivatives trader at O'Connor & Associates and held senior roles at UBS, Paribas Capital Markets (London), and Credit Suisse, where he managed the Convertible Finance Group.
Explore a structured capital solution.
For capital, partnership, and origination inquiries, contact our capital-markets partner to begin a confidential briefing.
L5 Sports Group
Sports finance & structured advisory. Institutional capital formation, facility development, and strategic partnership origination.