Our History

In 1987, Chicago native Jeff Hecktman founded The Hilco Trading Company (HTC) after advising his family industrial supply business on a restructuring effort. Throughout the 1990s, The Hilco Trading Company (HTC) handled a multitude of industrial, retail and wholesale liquidation/disposition deals and significantly grew its valuation and appraisal practice, becoming well know for its understanding of asset value and monetizing assets. While expanding its own business lines, the company partnered with advisors, consultants and even other liquidation firms that could provide complementary core competencies and bring added value to its clients.  As a privately held company it also began successfully deploying capital into deals on an opportunistic basis.

The early 2000s marked a period of high growth for Hilco. The company added a range of specialized financial solutions and service offerings in the US, Europe, Mexico and Asia. These included industrial auction services, real estate services, intangible asset services such as trademarks and domain names, accounts receivable solutions, brand licensing and restructuring work. A new real estate platform called HRP Group (formerly Hilco Redevelopment Partners) was also launched in 2012, providing a solution for acquiring and remediating old industrial manufacturing facilities and developing them into new and green uses.  It was also during this period that the Hilco Trading Company established its unique holding company operating structure with distinct operating companies, each led by experienced executives with proven expertise. This structure fostered both an entrepreneurial and collaborative spirt by enabling these leaders to build their own best-in-class businesses while also collaborating with their peers across Hilco to provide clients with ever-more comprehensive and customized offerings to address their distinct challenges.

In 2015, the company was rebranded as Hilco Global, reflecting both its expanded geographic footprint and the breadth of its Asset Smarter solutions. Hilco Global and its more than 20 business units provided a full suite of Valuation, Monetization, Advisory, and Capital solutions, helping businesses, lenders, and advisors worldwide manage through critical moments of inflection, including growth, restructuring, monetization, and funding needs.

In 2019, Hilco Global sold a minority equity stake to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), one of the world’s largest pension funds. This investment supported the company’s growth strategy, enabled registration as an investment advisor, and expanded its ability to deploy capital into larger and more complex transactions.

The partnership with CDPQ concluded in 2024, as Hilco Global and CDPQ mutually agreed to unwind the investment following changes in CDPQ’s strategy. This transition created the opportunity for Hilco Global to pursue a new long-term capital partner to support the company’s next phase of growth.

In the spring of 2024, Hilco Global initiated a strategic process to secure a long-term investment partner to support the company’s continued expansion. Later that year, an exclusive agreement was signed with ORIX Corporation USA, a subsidiary of ORIX Group (Japan).

The transaction closed in September 2025, with ORIX USA acquiring a 70% equity stake in Hilco Global and Hilco’s executive leadership and partners retaining a 30% minority position. Following the closing, Hilco Global began operating as a subsidiary of ORIX USA under the global ORIX Group umbrella, while maintaining its independent brand and operating model.

With the support of ORIX USA, Hilco Global is expanding its advisory platform, scaling its private credit business, and developing a new asset-based lending capability that combines Hilco’s expertise in asset valuation and monetization with ORIX’s global capital resources. These developments position the company to pursue larger and more complex transactions and to continue its evolution as a leading provider of advisory, capital solutions, and asset management services.