HarbourVest Partners will make a minority investment in CIFC Asset Management in order to expand its presence in the US senior debt market. This relationship is a natural extension of HarbourVest’s strategy in the private credit markets. The firm began investing into credit funds in 1995, has provided mezzanine loans to private companies since 2003, and has been active in the European senior loan market since 2010.
“Private debt strategies have many of the same qualities as private equity investing – i.e. reliance on similar networks and information for deal sourcing and evaluation, medium-term investment horizons, structuring for downside protection and the potential to outperform the public markets. CIFC’s focus on U.S. senior secured corporate loans is a complement to our existing expertise across mezzanine debt, European senior loans, and private equity,” said Rob Wadsworth, managing director of HarbourVest.
HarbourVest provides investment programs for institutional investors to invest venture capital, buyout, mezzanine debt, distressed debt, and real estate. In over 25 years of investing in private equity, HarbourVest has committed more than $21.3 billion to newly formed funds, representing relationships with 200 private equity managers. The firm has also completed over $5.8 billion in secondary purchases and invested $3.6 billion directly in operating companies. HarbourVest and its subsidiaries have 230 employees, including 80 investment professionals in Boston, London, and Hong Kong (www.harbourvest.com).
“We are excited to be teaming up with HarbourVest and see significant opportunity to jointly deliver investment solutions focused on private debt. This relationship will have great synergy between our complementary organizations, and many of the private companies within our portfolios are backed by the same general partners with whom HarbourVest has long-standing relationships,” said Peter Gleysteen, Chief Executive Officer of CIFC.
CIFC Asset Management (NASDAQ:CIFC) has $11.8 billion in assets under management from senior secured corporate loan based products as of December 31, 2012. The firm was founded in 2005 and has 60 employees. CIFC is headquartered in New York (www.cifc.com).
“This strategic relationship with CIFC allows HarbourVest to continue to provide our clients with best of breed opportunities across the private markets including U.S. senior secured corporate loans exclusively with CIFC,” said Mr. Wadsworth. “With historically low interest rates expected to prevail for the foreseeable future, many institutional investors are interested in strategies that can provide higher current yields and the potential for strong returns over the long term.”
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-13-13
