In contrast, GSO will take a minority stake, a seat on the board and a debtlike investment that pays a big double-digit coupon, but it will let management retain control. GSO is hoping to be a big part of the transformation. Mr. Bagaria is a co-founder and serves on the Board of Directors of The Manitou School, a private elementary school located in Cold Spring, New York. At Apollo, Mr. Bagaria invested in several asset classes including senior debt, high yield bonds, mezzanine finance and equity. It was a good time for Goodman, Smith and Ostrover to start their own firm. Wasserstein & Co. is a leading independent private equity and investment firm, focused primarily on leveraged buyout investments and related investment activities. Competition from increasingly bigger banks was fierce. Its investment activities are focused on . GSO which Goodman jokingly refers to as the Warren Buffett of the dregs is at the center of a reshaped Wall Street, where newly chastened banks are retreating to traditional roles as advisers to corporations, underwriting bonds for only the most highly rated companies and riskless deals. Smith, who calls himself Mr. The firm follows in the footsteps of Drexel and Michael Milken, who in the 1980s invented the junk bond market for non-investment-grade companies. The tank plus-up, which Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom Vadym Prystaiko announced on Saturday, should come as no surprise. Mr. Dutton earned a Masters degree in Economics from University College Dublin and a joint Honors degree in Business and Economics from Trinity College Dublin. He is a co-founder of Pangea University for the Health Sciences, a newly formed international platform for medical, nursing and health technology education for the emerging and frontier markets. Work with portfolio companies to integrate sustainability considerations into their business plans, as applicable. Thoughtful Electronics and Accessories for Smart Homes | Market leader and accessory manufacturer of smart home products such as Google Home, Nest . The high-yield and leveraged-loan markets never developed there like they did in the U.S. The next month Lehman Brothers Holdings filed for bankruptcy and all hell broke loose. Afsane Jetha is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alta Semper Capital, a dedicated growth markets private equity manager, which she co-founded in 2015 alongside Ronald Lauder (Chairman of Clinique, Este Lauder Companies) and Richard Parsons (Former CEO of Time Warner Group). Wasserstein & Co. is an independent private equity and investment firm, with offices in New York and Los Angeles. PWP provides strategic, financial and process advice to Directors and other fiduciaries in connection with transactions where there is an actual, apparent or potential conflict. I fell for it hook, line and sinker, says Goodman. GSO was also overly dependent on Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse, both of which were starting to feel pressure in the early days of the subprime crisis. The firm was formed in January 2001, when the merchant banking group of Wasserstein Perella & Co., Inc., a global investment banking firm, spun out to become an independent firm upon the acquisition of the remainder of Wasserstein Perella by Dresdner Bank. Wasserstein Debt Opportunities Management, LP ("WDO") is a New York-based SEC-registered investment advisor focused predominately on leveraged loans and high yield bonds.The firm seeks to create differentiated high yield exposure through primarily private equity backed, US non-large cap high yield issues, where WDO sees potential for price inefficiency. The new power brokers in the financial industry are money managers and investors like GSO, which control real assets. Ryan Mollett, a 34-year-old managing partner who joined News group from BlackRock in 2011, wrote a paper late that year asserting that the housing market had bottomed. In the process, Drexel helped spark an unprecedented era of prosperity in the U.S. as companies like Ted Turners Turner Broadcasting System, Craig McCaws McCaw Cellular Communications and William McGowans MCI Communications Corp. rapidly expanded by using this newly available source of capital. The strategy of Alta Semper is to invest flexible and strategic capital into market-leading business models in the . Not the case? Approach prospective clients and partners; make presentations. Blackstones offices on Park Avenue are nothing short of glitzy, with unobstructed views of the New York skyline and floors connected by grand staircases with polished metal banisters. Most PE firms are open to accredited investors or those who are deemed high-net . The Hovnanian deal was originated through the hedge fund but later expanded to include the rescue financing fund. But things were changing, and they would get their chance soon. He also serves on, and was formerly Chairman, of the Advisory Board of the Yale School of Management and is on the Board of the Cate School.Mr. Our initiatives in this regard are carried out by our Philanthropic Committee, which identifies several nonprofit charities each year with whom employees volunteer and EagleTree supports. Marina is based in Alta Sempers Cairo office. We take a unique approach to asset management. We focus primarily on equipment and services relating to water (drinking, waste and industrial) and other general industrial businesses including: pipes, pumps and valves; specialty chemicals; engineering services; and sensors, meters and monitors. EagleTree believes its collaborativeapproach toinvesting createsvalue across a defined set of initiatives developed in partnership with portfolio company management. New York, NY 10036 Credit Suisse bought DLJ for $11.5billion in 2000 and combined the firm with its New Yorkbased investment banking unit, Credit Suisse First Boston. Business Video. Goodman is quick to credit the Blackstone brand for at least part of GSOs success. But that is likely to change as banks shed assets to deleverage and companies need capital. Having a better understanding of credit markets, having a better idea of how we could finance a creative idea, would make us better in private equity, says James. When the markets rebounded in 1991, DLJ took over as a leading player. It was keeping up-to-date in its credit work on certain companies and identifying potential situations for investment. Jan 2003 - Mar 20052 years 3 months. Afsane Jetha - Gaining Additional Experience. He now manages its hedge fund. ALM, which in January 2005 changed its name from American Lawyer Media, was formed by U.S. Equity Partners L.P., a private equity fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co. Earlier in his career, Ahmed worked with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, in Cairo, advising government-owned enterprises in the MENA region and Sub-Saharan Africa on public-private partnerships (PPP). GSOs returns have been top quartile. Credit to Steve, he really trusted me on this one, adds James, who says Blackstone was looking for an area of asset management with room to grow that would complement its existing private equity, real estate and fund-of-hedge-funds businesses. corporate development. Europe currently offers GSO the greatest opportunities. That summer James approached Goodman the fourth time Blackstone had tried to entice him into a deal and stated the obvious: In credit were not where we want to be. He was a graduate of the McBurney School, University of Michigan, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School, and spent a year at the University of Cambridge.He was prominent in the mergers and acquisitions industry, credited with working on 1,000 transactions with a . [2] One First Boston analyst, Paul Mecurio, left corporate life to become a comedian. The latest messages and market ideas from Afsane Jetha (@afsanejetha) on Stocktwits. Prior to that, he worked for 14 years in Senior Hedge Fund operations positions for top tier firms, including IFS State Street and HSBC. Afsane is tiedpe - Afsane Jetha @afsanejetha GSO founders Goodman, Ostrover and Tripp Smith have emerged as lenders of last resort, filling the gaping financing void left by banks and opportunistic hedge funds in the wake of the 200809 financial crisis. The mission of Alta Semper is to invest flexible and strategic capital across selected growth markets, with a focus on the healthcare and consumer sectors. Pam Wasserstein is the President of Vox Media, the leading independent modern media company, where she oversees strategic initiatives, including e-commerce and consumer businesses, as well as the New York Magazine brands. Highlight the portfolio companys progress on ESG matters. Blackstone referred Sony to GSO, which crafted a deal of mezzanine debt and equity warrants in the company. In September 1988 the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Drexel for insider trading and stock manipulation. Former partner at Wall Street Technology Partners and former Director of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Private Equity Group. Aligning our interests with our investors creates a long-term partnership forsuccess. Instead, banks dominated the leveraged-finance markets, with few institutional buyers such as high-yield mutual funds. Original price $69.99. Mr. Jones is currently Chairman of Wasserstein & Co. Convene 117 West 46th Street, New York, April 19-20, 2023 Blackstone allowed us to take our business from being three years old to ten overnight, Ostrover says. Afsane is tiedpersonally and professionallyto East Africa as she is a fourth-generation Tanzanian. Upon his return from Vienna in 1987, he established the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, which supports Jewish schools, camps and community centers in several countries in Eastern Europe. Victoria Grace is a founding partner of Colle Capital Partners LP, an opportunistic, early stage technology venture fund. Before joining Wasserstein Debt Opportunities Management, LP, Mr. McLellan was a Senior Vice President at Sheffield Asset Management, LLC (Sheffield), a Chicago-based fund with a contrarian value orientation. The following March, Milken was indicted for racketeering and securities fraud. While non-investment-grade companies need capital, investors need yield, and alternative credit strategies like those offered by GSO provide a much-needed boost to returns for bond portfolios. In its five years in the Blackstone fold, GSO has gone from having two fund products to managing 27. (The sentence was later reduced to two years.). As it turned out, GSO had done thorough credit analysis and structured the debt appropriately, and it made 1.5 times its investment in two years, with every company paying off its debts. Mr. Jones currently serves on the board of the health food company, Forager Project, Inc., as well as on the advisory boards of a number of investment firms. They have a zealous approach to protecting capital, and theyve found a way to extend credit to organizations that need it and structure it in a way that takes advantage of the environment at the time, says Blackstone chairman, CEO and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman. We conduct our buyout investment activities through the Wasserstein Partners family of funds. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School where she earned her BS in Economics. Mr. Montana joined Wasserstein Debt Opportunities Management, LP in 2014 as a Finance Associate. After six months of negotiations, Goodman and his partners said yes. But thats starting to change as European banks need to deleverage and raise capital and companies desperately require funding. Contact Details Address:1301 Avenue of the Americas, 44th FloorNew York, NY 10019United States Phone/Fax:Phone: 212-702-600Fax: 212-702-635 Other Contact Details:Website: She co-founded Work It, Mom! She previously served as Partner at Wall Street Technology Partners LP and Director of the Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Private Equity Group. Mr. Montana earned a duel B.S. In this regard, EagleTree has adopted a Diversity & Inclusion Statement and, in 2021, became a signatory to ILPAs Diversity in Action Initiative. Before that she was a Director of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Private Equity Group. 300+ video lessons across 6 modeling courses taught by elite practitioners at the top investment banks and private equity funds -- Excel Modeling -- Financial Statement Modeling -- M&A Modeling -- LBO Modeling -- DCF and Valuation Modeling -- ALL INCLUDED + 2 Huge Bonuses. Ibrahim holds a Bachelor of Laws and a masters degree from University of Paris I Panthon-Sorbonne, and a Bachelor of Laws from Cairo University. They did their homework, and they were convinced that the market was underestimating our ability to succeed in a space housing that they thought was recovering, says Hovnanian. Any deal would hinge on James, who was revered by GSOs three founders. She holds her MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. West Palm Beach, FL 33401. While at Duet, Afsane led the largest private equity transaction into Ethiopia, Dashen Brewery, as well as, sourced and executed on several consumer-facing transactions in Ghana, Uganda and Cote DIvoire. Copyright 2023. GSO represents 26.6 percent of the firms $218billion in assets, on par with its $59billion real estate business and larger than both its private equity ($52billion) and Blackstone Alternative Asset Management hedge fund ($48billion) businesses. Marina joined Alta Semper in January 2019. Our investment activities are focused on middle-market leveraged buyout investments and related investment activities. Drexel had unwittingly passed the high-yield baton to DLJ. Wasserstein & Co. also manages a significant portfolio of debt and equity securities and other investments on behalf of our stockholders and other investors. Wasserstein & Co. manages capital on behalf of institutional and individual investors. Executives at two publicly traded alternatives firms say they arent so much concerned about Blackstone as a competitor in private equity but that theyve been blindsided by GSOs growth. While our focus is primarily on control equity investments, we have invested successfully across the entire capital structure spectrum, taking positions in preferred stock and various debt securities with compelling risk / return profiles. Wasserstein Debt Opportunities Management, LP ("WDO") is a New York-based SEC-registered investment advisor focused predominately on leveraged loans and high yield bonds. Harvard labor economist Claudia Goldin summarises the distance we've travelled over the past hundred years, in a kind of Five Ages of Women. The death of Lazard Ltd. Chief Executive Bruce Wasserstein will trigger the vesting of stock currently valued at $188 million, confirming Mr. Wasserstein's status as one of history's most highly . The ESG Sub-Committee generally will meet on at least a weekly basis and its responsibilities will include: (i) engaging with EagleTrees deal teams on pre-acquisition ESG due diligence matters; (ii) engaging with EagleTrees third-party ESG specialists to conduct annual portfolio company-level ESG reviews; (iii) responding to investor and other stakeholder ESG requests; (iv) conducting annual employee training; and (v) reviewing and updating this Policy and EagleTrees ESG program, as necessary, from time to time. Private Equity Firms in Southern California Company Website Address Primary Contact Angeleno Group www.angelenogroup.com 2029 Century Park East Suite 2980 Los Angeles, CA 90067 . In Europe 70 to 75 percent of lending is done by banks. GSO was an early investor in the shale gas industry, which has been whipsawed by volatile pricing and other events. Performing, price-discounted debt that we expect to recover. Prior to joining Apollo, Mr. Bagaria worked at Goldman Sachs & Co.s PIA (Goldman), Goldmans principal investment area responsible for the private equity and mezzanine funds. As a result of the cumulative research among the different Blackstone groups, private equity bought $220million of nonperforming residential loans, the real estate team purchased $1.4billion of single-family homes to lease, and GSO invested in Hovnanian. Dealmaker Bruce Wasserstein, famously nicknamed "Bid 'em up Bruce," died at the age of 61 in 2009, leaving his heirs a fortune wrought from years of fierce deal making. Its amorphous, and you dont know the people. Convene 117 West 46th Street, New York, May 23-24, 2023 This Policy is intended to provide a broad framework for EagleTrees overall approach to ESG. In fact, the firm is preparing to be a buyer when rates rise and long-only mutual fund managers have to sell bonds to meet investor redemptions. Lets face it, if a company can tap the public markets, they will, and theyll get a much better deal.. We love your company., (Ostrover had his own hard-luck family bankruptcy story: His grandfather had to shutter Ostrovers Smoked Fish on New Yorks Lower East Side in the 1950s following a blackout; he couldnt pay his creditors because his customers fish had rotted.). The private equity business of the investment firm was not included in the sale and was to be sold off to existing Wasserstein shareholders. document.write(new Date().getFullYear()); Investments can also be shared. GSO LIKES A LITTLE, BUT NOT TOO much, market misery. Over the last 30 years, Mr. Campbell has served as a member of the Boards of Directors of public and private companies operating both within the US and globally and for numerous investments while at Wasserstein & Perella Co., Veritas Capital and DC Capital. Stephen M. Sammut is a Senior Fellow in Health Care Management and a Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he has taught over 11, 000 students in the last 25 years. Credit geeks Goodman, Ostrover and Smith nonetheless went to Blackstones extravagant road show at New Yorks Pierre hotel in the spring of 2007, the first time that granular detail about the private equity firm was available to the public. In 2007, the peak for the firms performance fees, private equity contributed the bulk of the total. The firm was formed in January 2001, when the merchant banking group of Wasserstein Perella & Co., Inc., a global investment banking firm, spun out to become an independent firm upon the acquisition of Wasserstein Perella by Dresdner Bank. This Wasserstein & Co. works on 31 percentage points more the average amount of lead investments comparing to the other organizations. EagleTree Capital is an independent private equity firm located in New York. Wasserstein established his reputation for orchestrating complex mergers and acquisitions at First Boston Corp., and later Wasserstein Perella & Co., an investment bank sold to Dresdner Bank in 2000 for $1.4 billion. Wasserstein & Co. is an independent private equity and investment firm, focused on middle-market leveraged buyout investments and related investment activities. Mr. Montana joined Wasserstein Debt Opportunities Management, LP in 2014 as a Finance Associate. He was appointed Chief Compliance Officer in January 2017. Previously, Mr. Jones was Head of West Coast Investment Banking at Wasserstein Perella and, prior to that, was Managing Director at Salomon Brothers from 1988 through 1994. GSO had partnered with TPG to buy a $2billion portfolio of bridge loans from Citigroup. Mr. Wasserstein died in 2009. Bruce Jay Wasserstein (December 25, 1947 - October 14, 2009) was an American investment banker, businessman, and writer. He subsequently established the investment bank boutique Wasserstein Perella & Co., which he later sold . Before becoming President and Chief Investment Officer of Wasserstein Debt Opportunities Management, LP, in 2013, Mr. Bagaria was a Partner and Investment Committee member of Apollo Investment Management (Apollo), the investment manager of Apollo Investment Corporation (AIC), a publicly traded business development company. The Deutsche Bank portfolio was marked to about 5 cents on the dollar for the quarter ended March 31, 2009. With no bank willing to lend to it, the Red Bank, New Jerseybased homebuilder had become a target for short-sellers; investors were betting billions of dollars in credit default swaps that the company Hovnanians father and three uncles had founded in 1959 would go belly-up. With Blackstone they would get scale, a brand, idea-sharing with the firms deal makers and access to new and larger clients. Predecessor funds, U.S. Equity Partners I and II, were raised in 1997 and 2002 and invested approximately $750 million of committed equity capital. We want to buy you.. In all cases the company would likely be giving up control at the bottom of the market. Junk bonds also fueled the leveraged buyouts of the 1980s, when firms like KKR targeted companies that had once turned deaf ears to shareholder demands. Afsane Jetha began her career at Merrill Lynch and Wasserstein Private Equity before moving on to the consumer team at Permira in London. About Wasserstein & Co. Wasserstein & Co. is a leading independent private equity and investment firm, focused primarily on leveraged buyout investments and related investment activities. The high activity for fund was in 2002. In addition to strengthening their firms credit business, Schwarzman and James saw benefits for its private equity operation. . From 2002 2004, Mr. McLellan worked as an analyst for Deutsche Bank focusing on Mergers & Acquisitions and Media Investment Banking. Work with portfolio companies to address ever-changing cyber-security considerations. She has worked for GI Partners, Merrill Lynch, Wasserstein Private Equity, and Permira in London. After earning his MBA in 1984, the Miami-born Goodman took a full-time job with Drexel in New York. And, yes, we've come a long way, baby! and co-managed the company for five years until its merger. To be sure, Blackstone is not the only manager to have smelled opportunity in the financing void. At that time, Drexel had a lock on the business. This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Mr. Dutton has been working in the Hedge Fund Industry since 1997 and joined Wasserstein Debt Opportunities Management, LP in June 2013. Its alternative credit growing up. In 2006, four years after Wasserstein's departure, it dropped Wasserstein's name. . Wasserstein & Co. is an independent private equity and investment firm, with offices in New York and Los Angeles. degree in Finance and Government from the University of Notre Dame in 2002, graduating magna cum laude. From 2002 2004, Mr. McLellan worked as an analyst for Deutsche Bank focusing on Mergers & Acquisitions and Media Investment Banking. EagleTree has always strived to maintain a strong culture of good governance to ensure that it operates in a socially responsible manner. The firm honed the skills needed to look at an ugly financial situation and determine the commercial viability of a financing for both the companies and investors. Previously, he was the Managing Partner of the New York law firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler. In one of the largest B2B media transactions this year, Northstar Travel Group, which provides a broad array of products in the retail and corporate events markets, was sold from one private-equity firmthe Wicks Groupto another, Wasserstein Partners, Northstar CEO Thomas Kemp said today. The firm invests in privately held mid-market businesses primarily headquartered in North America with a focus on the following industry sectors: media and business services; consumer; and water and specialty industrial. Zachary has an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in Economics from Cornell University. Smith is the third generation in his Indianapolis Irish family to graduate from the Catholic university; two of his four kids are currently studying there. Ronald S. Lauder is an international philanthropist, diplomat, public servant, entrepreneur, investor and patron of the arts. But by the end of 2009, the firm had $24billion in assets. Though he loved working on Wall Street, particularly at DLJ, Goodman wanted to spend all his time investing. As 2008 wore on and the credit crisis gathered steam, GSO started putting money to work. In early 1988, Goodman started building the capital markets business at DLJ under Moran and James. But its deals remained small, providing funding for companies like Pacific Lumber and Caff Nero, a U.K. coffeehouse chain. from the University of California at Berkeley. You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. [9], Wasserstein Perella advised Axa Financial in the $11.5 billion sale of Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette to Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, Philip Morris in its $14.9 billion acquisition of Nabisco Holdings Corp. and Time Warner in its $128 billion merger with America Online. Mr. Kelsey earned a B.S. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again. PE firms charge a management fee of typically 2% of AMU and a performance fee of 20% of the profits. Eleven months later the U.S. housing rebound is official and Hovnanian Enterprises is flourishing, expecting 2013 to be its first profitable year since 2006. GSO has provided much-needed credit to scores of troubled companies like Hovnanian that couldnt tap public markets or get bank loans. Mr. OKeefe joined Wasserstein Debt Opportunities Management, LP in 2014 as an Associate. Bertman, who built an underdog team into a profitable legend for LSU, told Goodman that success took three Hs: hard work (in an interview his uncle calls that hustle), honesty and humility. Indeed, when Hovnanian announced the land banking deal on July 13, 2012, its stock rose, its senior secured debt traded up from 84 to 97 cents on the dollar, and the price of the CDS contracts collapsed. After the market bottomed in 2009, GSO launched its first rescue lending fund, which closed at $3.3billion. If Drexel came up with the junk bond and DLJ created the institutional leveraged-finance market, GSO is again reinventing the concept of providing capital to non-investment-grade companies this time as an asset manager. He is credited with the term, Pac-Man defense, which is used by . A link has been emailed to you - check your inbox. In July 2007, he sold American Lawyer Media to Incisive Media for about $630 million in cash. from the University of California at Berkeley.