Sector developments and company hires

Acquisition
Ares Holdings is set to acquire a controlling interest in Asian alternative asset manager SSG Capital Holdings and its subsidiaries. Headquartered in Hong Kong with offices across Asia, SSG manages private credit and special situations funds totaling approximately US$6.2bn in assets under management, as of 30 September 2019. The SSG leadership team, including ceo Edwin Wong, and their colleagues will join Ares under the agreement. In certain circumstances, Ares may acquire full ownership of SSG pursuant to a contractual arrangement that may be initiated by Ares or the equity holders of SSG. The transaction is expected to close in Q2 or Q3, subject to customary closing conditions.

APAC
Moody's has appointed Brian Cahill as global head of ESG to lead its ESG strategy and outreach, and guide further incorporation of ESG considerations into its credit ratings, analytics and research. Currently md and regional head of Moody’s APAC corporate finance group, Cahill will take on the newly created role from 1 February. He joined the rating agency in 1996 as a structured finance analyst.

Cyber ILS inked
Re/insurance electronic marketplace AkinovA recently completed a landmark parametric cyber risk transfer trade, with full regulatory oversight from the Bermuda Monetary Authority, under AkinovA’s insurance regulatory sandbox license. The product was a quarterly parametric cyber instrument, purchased by an asset manager in the financial services sector. The coverage focuses on assets that are exposed to cyber-related disruption impacting underlying power generators in the US. The instrument was developed and structured by Hiscox, which worked closely with Guy Carpenter as broker to address the cover-buyer’s exposure. Hiscox also provided capital for the transaction. PCS is reporting agency on the trade, with the trigger referring to a robust third-party power generation index, combined with outage times and disruption levels.  

EMEA
HIG Capital has appointed Florian Kawohl as md of Bayside Capital, its distressed debt investing affiliate. Kawohl will split his time between the Hamburg and London offices. He previously spent 14 years at Strategic Value Partners, where he was an md. Prior to this, he worked at Carlyle Group and McKinsey & Company.