Coller Capital leads Abry Partners’ $1.6 billion GP-led credit transaction
GP-Led Transaction Creates Continuation Vehicle for the Abry Advanced Securities Fund III
Transaction marks largest credit continuation vehicle created to date
New York, August 29, 2024 – Coller Capital, the world’s largest investor dedicated in private market secondaries[1], and Abry Partners, a leading private equity and credit firm, today announced the closing of a GP-led transaction to create a continuation vehicle for Abry Advanced Securities Fund III (“ASF III” or the “Fund”).
The GP-led transaction represents the largest credit continuation vehicle ever created with $1.6 billion of assets under management.[2] The continuation vehicle is designed to provide full liquidity to Abry’s existing investors and will provide new and continuing investors the opportunity to seed Abry Partners’ new private credit strategy.
ASF III is a diversified portfolio majority comprised of first lien broadly syndicated loans to US companies. As of the Dec-23 reference date there were 240+ positions across 210+ unique underlying companies. Following the transaction, Abry will continue to actively manage the portfolio of broadly syndicated loans. The Fund will also originate new investment opportunities with strategic investments into private debt.
“We are thrilled to have closed this transaction, which marks a significant milestone for Abry and our investors,” said C.J. Brucato, CEO at Abry. “This deal delivers on our primary goal of providing an attractive full liquidity option to our limited partners in a market environment where liquidity has been scarce, but also aligns with our strategy to create value through disciplined investment in in private debt and broadly syndicated credit.”
Michael Schad, Partner and Head of Credit Secondaries at Coller Capital said: “We are very pleased to partner with Abry on the creation of this landmark vehicle. This transaction is a testament to Coller Capital’s track-record of innovation and our pioneering position in the credit secondary space, as well as another example of our ability to creatively structure and swiftly execute on deals.”
Martins Marnauza, Partner at Coller Capital said: “Abry’s leading position as a specialized middle market firm with deep sector knowledge and a highly experienced team, together with our expertise and scale in the secondary market, ensures that we can continue to provide LPs with exposure to a diversified portfolio of high-quality assets. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership with Abry as they continue to deliver value for their LPs.”
Coller Capital has over $33 billion in AUM and offices in London, New York, Zurich, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, Luxembourg, and Melbourne. With a 34-year track-record of value creation and innovation in the secondary market, Coller Capital has established itself as one of the world’s leading investors in secondary market private assets since its founding in 1990. The firm provides liquidity solutions to private markets investors globally, acquiring interests in private equity, private credit, and other private markets assets. Since the launch of its CIP V fund in 2007, credit has been a core strategy for Coller Capital. In 2021, the firm launched its first dedicated credit fund – Coller Credit Secondaries – Opportunities Fund I – which was the largest fund dedicated to private secondaries credit of its time.
Campbell Lutyens acted as exclusive financial advisor to Abry, with Kirkland & Ellis serving as Abry’s legal counsel. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP served as legal counsel for Coller Capital.
ENDS
About Coller Capital
Coller Capital, founded in 1990, is one of the world’s leading investors in the secondary market for private assets – and widely acknowledged as an innovator in secondaries. The firm provides liquidity solutions to private markets investors worldwide, acquiring interests in private equity, private credit, and other private markets assets. With headquarters in London, and offices in New York, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul, Luxembourg, Zurich and Melbourne, Coller’s multinational investment team has a truly global reach. In January 2021, the firm closed Coller International Partners VIII, with committed capital (including co-investment vehicles) of just over $9 billion and backing from over 200 of the world’s leading institutional investors. In February 2022, the firm closed Coller Credit Opportunities I, with committed capital (including co-investment vehicles) of c.$1.45 billion and backing from over 40 institutional investors. In March 2023, Coller Capital announced the creation of its global Private Wealth Secondaries Solutions (“PWSS”) business to provide further access to private capital markets for high-net-worth individuals.
About Abry Partners
Abry Partners is one of the most experienced and successful sector-focused private equity and credit investment firms in North America and Europe. Since its founding in 1989, Abry has completed over $90 billion of investments, today managing over $5.0 billion of active capital across private equity, structured equity, and senior debt. With the closing of the Continuation Fund, Abry officially launched Private Debt, a complementary strategy to the existing platform.
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1By capital raised. Based on a review of Preqin and competitor firm’s ownership structure, as at May 2024.
[2] According to advisor/intermediary Campbell Lutyens