Company hires and sector developments

Alt credit co-head nabbed

Ares has hired Joel Holsinger to its credit group as co-head of alternative credit, effective immediately. Holsinger will serve on the Ares management committee and work alongside Keith Ashton as co-head of alternative credit to expand the firm's global coverage of the US$4trn alternative credit sector. Ares' alternative credit strategy pursues asset-focused direct investments primarily in North America and Europe across a spectrum of specialty assets, real assets and financial assets. Holsinger was previously a partner with Fortress Investment Group.

BDC merger

OHA Investment Corp (OHAI) is set to merge with Portman Ridge Finance Corp (PTMN), a BDC managed by Sierra Crest Investment Management, an affiliate of BC Partners Advisors and LibreMax Capital. The transaction is the result of OHAI’s previously announced review of strategic alternatives and has been approved by a unanimous vote of the OHAI and PTMN boards. The combined company is expected to have total assets of approximately US$372m and a NAV of approximately US$181m. OHAI stockholders – which are expected to own approximately 16% of the combined company – will benefit from PTMN’s lower fee structure (1.50% management fee versus current management fee of 1.75% and 17.5% incentive fee versus current incentive fee of 20%) and should expect to realise net investment income, net asset value and distribution accretion within the first year following closing of the transaction. Under the terms of the proposed transaction, OHAI’s stockholders will receive value per share of approximately 108% of OHAI’s net asset value per share at the time of the closing of the transaction. As of 31 March 2019, OHAI’s net asset value was US$37.1m, or US$1.84 per share.

Investment chief retires

Bill Roth, vp and cio of Two Harbors Investment Corp, intends to retire on 31 December 2019 and will be succeeded by William Greenberg and Matthew Koeppen as vps and co-cios. Greenberg has been with Two Harbors since 2012 and most recently served as md, co-deputy cio, with primary responsibility for the investment and hedging strategy of the company’s MSR portfolio, as well as managing the investment securities portfolio. Prior to joining Two Harbors, he was an md at UBS, holding a variety of senior positions with responsibilities including managing the mortgage repurchase liability risk related to over US$100bn of RMBS and whole loans. Koeppen has been with Two Harbors since 2010 and was most recently md, co-deputy cio, with primary responsibility for the investment and hedging strategy of the company’s investment securities portfolio. Prior to joining Two Harbors, he held a variety of positions with Black River Asset Management, including md of business development.