Churchill’s survey of private equity firms suggests M&A is returning to normal levels
Senior PE executives are confident in both deal activity and returns

The M&A market is normalising – Ares’ Matt Theodorakis
PODCAST: “People are looking to do deals going forward” after taking a pause following ‘Liberation Day’, Theodorakis told Lisa Lee, managing editor at Creditflux, on the latest Credit Exchange podcast

Clearlake launches Clearlake Credit to chase private and public credit investments
The new platform will integrate the newly acquired MV Credit and WhiteStar Asset Management

CLO manager M&A driven by search for talent and scale

BlackRock acquires HPS in USD 12bn deal
BlackRock has acquired HPS Investment Partners for USD 12bn in an all-stock transaction, creating a private credit franchise with a combined USD 220bn in client assets

Fidelity Investments buys Fidelity International’s European CLO platform
Life has become a little simpler for CLO investors, as the two different Fidelity CLO platforms combine into one manager

Wendel announces purchase of majority stake in Monroe Capital
French investment firm Wendel announced on Tuesday it has agreed to acquire 75% of US private credit firm and CLO manager Monroe Capital for USD 1.13bn, as part of its planned expansion into third-party asset management.

Hayfin agrees to Arctos-backed management buyout
The management team at Hayfin Capital Management is taking over the company in a management buyout backed by Arctos Partners

Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling partners affirm merger
The partnership will help both firms expand internationally while changing the legal landscape

Sound Point to take on Assured's asset management business in new partnership
Assured Guaranty and Sound Point Capital Management have struck up a partnership, according to an announcement, which will make Sound Point the fifth largest CLO manager globally.

Sound Point holding CLO M&A talks which could catapult it to fifth-largest manager
Sound Point Capital Management is locked in talks with a large, global CLO manager over a deal that could take its CLO AUM north of $36 billion

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

Nuveen strikes deal to buy European direct lender Arcmont
Nuveen has reached an agreement to buy a controlling stake in European credit manager Arcmont Asset Management

PE firm Nile buys minority stake in Prytania AM
Nile Capital Group has bought a minority stake in a structured credit specialist 

Apollo and Pimco buy ‘significant portion’ of Credit Suisse's securitised products group
The move has prompted a rally for Credit Suisse, which on Thursday unveiled a strategic review “designed to reduce risk-weighted assets and leverage exposure”

Apollo reaches for bigger slice of pi(e) with 5% Diameter stake
Apollo Global Management has bought a 5% stake in credit fund and CLO manager Diameter Capital Partners, cementing the relationship between the firms

"Wholesale moves into risk areas after internal changes should sound an alarm"
The composition of CLO managers is changing, so management styles may drift  

Carlyle closes CBAM transaction to become largest CLO manager in the world
Carlyle Group has closed a deal to buy the assets of CBAM and has become the largest CLO manager in the world

CBAM: star power, friends in insurance, and doing things 'my way'
"And now the end is here, and so I face that final curtain... I've lived a life that's full, I traveled each and every highway, And more, much more
I did it, I did it my way". Sinatra could easily have been thinking of CBAM when he penned these lyrics. We look back at how a group of experienced CLO officials came together to launch a mega player in the CLO business in no time at all 

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

Whitestar swoops for US CLOs as it readies European deals
MacKay Shields has completed its exit from CLO management after it emerged that the asset manager has transferred the rights to two of its US CLOs to Whitestar Asset Management

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

WhiteStar to absorb MacKay Shields' European CLO platform
WhiteStar Asset Management has swooped for MacKay Shields’ European CLO business, ending weeks of speculation over the latter’s CLO ambitions and confirming WhiteStar's status as a rising star 

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

Past returns: Highland sells European CLOs at second attempt
In Creditflux 10 years ago, we reported that Highland Capital Management was offloading its European CLOs, with Alcentra and Barings among the frontrunner