Evolving M&A is transforming the capital formation landscape – KKR
'Critical' link between M&A and credit is set to fuel growth in private markets

Clearlake abandons bank-led option for a private credit loan to replace Dun & Bradstreet financing
EXCLUSIVE: The private equity firm is going with the Ares-led private credit loan rather than tapping banks to raise debt in the capital markets 

Trump victory raises hopes for high yield markets, M&A revival
Leverage finance markets cheered Donald Trump’s win on the prospect the former president’s return to the White House will unleash deregulation and M&A, lower taxes and higher economy growth

BNP Paribas announces negotiations to buy AXA IM
BNP Paribas said it entered exclusive talks to buy AXA's asset management unit and set-up a partership for EUR 5.1bn

New report finds 2023 a record year for alternative credit M&A
A new report on “Acquisitions of Alternative Credit Managers” by credit specialist Gapstow forecasts that more M&A activity lies ahead for credit firms as they struggle with the challenges facing the broader investment management industry

Impax Asset Management scoops up Danish boutique manager
Impax Asset Management, an asset manager that invests in the transition to a more sustainable economy, has agreed to buy a boutique Danish business

Aquarian buys minority stake in Obra
Obra Capital revealed in Monday that it had sold a minority equity ownership stake to Aquarian Holdings

Obra completes acquisition of KDP assets following bankruptcy filing
Obra Capital has acquired the assets of KDP Investment Advisors following the latter firm's chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in May of this year

FS and Portfolio Advisors join forces to create $73bn asset manager
FS Investments and Portfolio Advisors have announced a merger in a deal which will see Portfolio Advisors become the institutional investment arm of FS

Franklin Templeton wraps up deal for $35bn Alcentra
Franklin Templeton has completed its acquisition of BNY Mellon’s $35 billion credit unit Alcentra

Aristotle boosts credit business with Pacific AM acquisition
Pacific Life Insurance Company has agreed to sell its credit asset manager – Pacific Asset Management – to Aristotle Capital Management

Credit managers form partnerships as they eye growth
Two credit managers have struck new relationships

Spac pricing hints at Sound Point's growth ambitions in loan market
Sound Point Acquisition Corp has priced a $225 million IPO, signalling that credit asset manager Sound Point Capital Management is looking to expand its platform

Gapstow expects strategic deals as credit manager M&A volume slumps to $120 billion
M&A volume involving credit asset managers dropped last year with total target value assets under management slumping to $120 billion from $149 billion in 2020 (and $254 billion in 2019), according to Gapstow Capital Partners

Wells Fargo AM becomes Allspring under new ownership
Wells Fargo Asset Management has completed its transformation into Allspring Global Investment 

Bennett Goodman's Hunter Point buys stake in MidOcean
Hunter Point, which was launched by Blackstone Credit’s co-founder Bennett Goodman alongside Avi Kalichstein in 2020, has made its first investment and bought a minority stake in mid-market specialist MidOcean

T Rowe Price to buy Oak Hill for up to $4.2 billion
Oak Hill is set to become T Rowe Price’s private markets platform, led by Oak Hill’s chief executive officer Glenn August

Santander to acquire Amherst Pierpont for $600 million
Banco Santander says it has struck an agreement to acquire fixed income broker dealer Amherst Pierpont Securities

Birch Grove merges with American Securities' credit business
US private equity firm American Securities has merged its opportunistic credit business, Ascribe Capital, with boutique alternative credit hedge fund Birch Grove Capital

Candriam agrees deal for Rothschild's European fund of fund business
Candriam has bought Rothschild’s “multi-management” business, representing €350 million of assets

Bridgepoint buys EQT's credit business - report
Bridgepoint is buying the credit business of EQT, according to the Financial Times

PE firms look to go it alone as credit units reach maturity
Private equity firms are starting to weigh up the merits of housing private debt businesses, with TPG Capital the latest to contemplate splitting with its credit business TPG Sixth Street. It follows EQT Capital, which announced a strategic review in January centred on parting ways with its credit unit.

Apollo ups stake in Athene to 35% through stock deal
Apollo Global Management is doubling its stake in Athene Holding to around 35% by exchanging $1.2 billion of common equity and buying $350 million extra of Athene stock

Pretium buys Latigo to boost distressed capabilities
Pretium Partners has bought the investment management business of New York-based Latigo Partners, in a bid to expand the firm’s distressed debt and event-driven credit capabilities. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed

Banco Sabadell joins forces with Amundi
Banco Sabadell and Amundi have announced a long-term strategic partnership, in a bid to boost fund business in Spain