Leeds Equity Partners has made an equity investment in Covenant Review in partnership with company executives Adam Cohen and Paul Ciasullo, who will continue to lead the business.
“We serve our customers by explaining the actionable possibilities of legal documents, which otherwise can be very difficult for investors to understand in context,” said Mr. Cohen. “We look forward to increasing the scale and breadth of our product offerings and geographic footprint with the support of our new partners at Leeds Equity.”
Covenant Review provides institutional investors and other bond and loan market participants with an understanding of the legal documentation governing their securities investments. Customers include hedge funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, broker-dealers, pension funds and endowments. Covenant Review was founded in 2006 by Mr. Cohen, a capital markets lawyer, and is based in New York (www.covenantreview.com).
“We are enthusiastic about partnering with Covenant Review,” said Robert Bernstein, Senior Managing Director and Co-Founder of Leeds Equity Partners. “The company provides an invaluable resource for investment professionals looking to integrate a smart and reliable solution with their own investment process.”
Leeds Equity Partners is focused exclusively on investing in the education, training and information services industries. The firm was founded by Jeffrey Leeds and Robert Bernstein in 1993 and has raised and managed more than $1.1 billion of capital across five funds. The firm is located in New York (www.leedsequity.com).
“Leeds Equity’s investment in Covenant Review will create a research and analytics growth platform within the financial information services sector,” said Scott VanHoy, Principal at Leeds Equity Partners. “Management and Leeds Equity have identified a number of organic and inorganic opportunities to scale the company, and we look forward to working in concert with Adam and Paul to execute on those growth initiatives.”
“I always wished for a better, more efficient manner with which to understand credit documents and navigate securities precedents when I was a bond trader,” said Mr. Ciasullo. Covenant Review has answered this credit market need for investors with a compelling information services solution. Leeds Equity’s partnership is a testament to the strong platform that the entire Covenant Review team has built and will serve as a critical resource in helping drive our next stage of growth.”
Covenant Review was represented by The Jordan Edmiston Group (www.jegi.com), a New York City based investment bank that specializes in the media, information, marketing services and related technology industries.
2014 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 9-30-14