Sector developments and company hires

Marble Point acquisition agreed

Investcorp is set to acquire Marble Point Credit Management, an affiliate of Eagle Point Credit Management. Upon closing of the transaction, Marble Point will be combined with Investcorp Credit Management, which has US$14.2bn in AUM and an 18-year history of investing across credit markets worldwide. The combined platform will manage US$22bn in assets and rank among the top 15 CLO managers globally by AUM.

Marble Point is led by Thomas Shandell and Corey Geis. The former will lead the combined US CLO and broadly syndicated loans business for Investcorp, while the latter will serve as director of capital markets, head trader and portfolio manager at Investcorp.

The transaction - which is expected to close in 1Q23 - is subject to customary regulatory requirements and closing conditions. 

In other news……

CLO data alliance inked

Allvue Systems has formed a strategic alliance with Coefficient Markets to provide liquid credit and CLO managers with real-time, actionable markets data direct from contributing dealers that utilise Coefficient’s EPIC sell-side software suite. Through this partnership, Allvue’s clients will have market liquidity data fully integrated alongside their portfolios and daily workflow inside Allvue’s suite of loan software offerings. Historically, clients have had to rely on prior day data or view live data outside of the Allvue interface.

CLO equity vehicle closed

Polus Capital Managementhas closed its second captive CLO equity vehicle, Cairn Loan Investments II (CLI II), with €228m of committed capital. CLI II can support up to €4.5bn of European CLO issuance and to date has deployed approximately 50% of its capital, having launched five European CLOs totalling €2bn of target par.

EMEA

Alantra has strengthened its presence in Italy by incorporating private debt operations in Milan, which will be led by md Alberto Pierotti. He joined the firm earlier this year (SCI 21 April) and was previously based in the team's headquarters in Madrid.

Alantra Private Debt will invest in Italy by providing long-term and flexible senior debt instruments, from €10m to €30m, aimed at supporting medium-sized companies in all sectors, including commercial real estate. The firm will favour investments with a strong ESG policy and sustainable characteristics.

Clifford Chance has named Oliver Kronat head of global financial markets, Germany. Based in Frankfurt, he joined the firm in November 2000 and became a partner in May 2007. Kronat advises on German and international structured finance transactions, portfolio trades and alternative investments.

New CLO ETF prepped

Invesco Capital Management is set to launch an actively managed US CLO ETF on 9 December. Dubbed Invesco AAA CLO Floating Rate Note ETF, the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in floating rate triple-A CLO bonds of any maturity. The fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in CLO securities with a minimum rating of double-A and up to 20% of its net assets in CLO securities that are denominated in foreign currencies.

The fund will primarily invest in CLOs whose underlying loan collateral is comprised of broadly syndicated loans, but it may also invest up to 15% of its net assets in middle-market CLOs. ICLO will limit its investment in fixed-rate CLO securities to a maximum of 15% of its net assets.