ORIX USA announced the expansion of the ORIX Leveraged Finance team, a principal investment business unit of the financial services firm.

With more than 12 years of financial industry experience, Ben Harris has joined the group as a Director based in New York focused on business development. Prior to joining ORIX USA, Harris was with Prospect Capital and has previously worked for the Sponsor Finance unit of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Arcapita’s private equity group. He received a Bachelor of Science from University College London and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Harris joins New York-based Managing Director Geoffrey Chang, who was hired in October. Chang is responsible for originating and executing investments. A 19-year veteran of the financial industry, Chang was previously a Managing Director at Prospect Capital and, before that, a founding member and Partner at both PennantPark Investment Corporation and Audax Mezzanine. He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University.

“We are pleased to augment the Leveraged Finance team by launching a dedicated New York presence for our group,” said Ted Thorp, Managing Director and Group Co-Head of ORIX Leveraged Finance. “Geoffrey and Ben both have strong track records of helping private equity groups and the companies they sponsor achieve their investment objectives via well-constructed capital structures, and we look forward to leveraging their relationships and expertise.”

Since its inception in 2004, the group has closed over 300 financings, committing nearly $4 billion of ORIX USA’s proprietary capital.

“ORIX Leveraged Finance is a key growth engine for the company and has a long, successful track record of deploying capital within the middle-market,” said Hideto Nishitani, Chairman and CEO of ORIX USA. “We look forward to the contributions of both Geoffrey and Ben in our efforts to widen the reach of our professionals and financial products across the Americas.”