Covenant Review, a portfolio company of Leeds Equity Partners, has acquired CapitalStructure, a provider of news and information on the European sub-investment grade credit market.
Covenant Review, acquired by Leeds in September 2014, 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 and is based in New York (www.covenantreview.com).
The customers of CapitalStructure include asset managers, private equity sponsors, investment bankers, restructuring advisors, lawyers, and accountants. The company was founded in 2008 by Sarah Goodchild (CEO) and Minaxi Kesra (Global Head of Special Situations). CapitalStructure is headquartered in London (www.capital-structure.com).
As part of Covenant Review, both Ms. Goodchild and Ms. Kesra will continue to operate the business, and will expand the company’s coverage of the sub-investment grade credit market into the US. “For the past seven years, CapitalStructure has forged deep relationships with the buyside and sellside in Europe,” said Ms. Goodchild. “Our sources know that we can be reliable partners and our customers know us as the most trusted information source in the space because of our strict editorial policy of multiple sourcing of key information to ensure accuracy. This transaction positions us to bring that same level of service to the US market.”
“The CapitalStructure deal is a big part of why we chose to bring in Leeds Equity as partners last year – for their capacity to support us in our strategic initiatives,” said Covenant Review CEO Adam Cohen. “We are delighted to have partnered with Sarah and Minaxi. They have created a phenomenal business from the ground up, just as my partner Paul Ciasullo and I did in developing Covenant Review. Our team is thrilled to be working with such passionate people to continue building the world’s most trusted authority in fixed income research, data, and analytics.”
Leeds Equity Partners invests in the education, information services, software, technology-enabled business services and training 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. Leeds Equity Partners is headquartered in New York (www.leedsequity.com).
2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 5-19-15