Credit and Direct Lending Funds

Our transactional practices – Direct Lending, Special Situations Credit, Distressed Investing, Structured Credit, CLOs, Trade Claims and Restructuring, to name a few – focus on the assets in which the Credit and Direct Lending Funds invest.

This transactional experience helps us devise terms and tax efficient fund structures that align with deal structuring and execution.

AB Private Credit Investors

Advise AB Private Credit Investors LLC (“ABPCI”) — a subsidiary of AllianceBernstein — on multiple credit products, including evergreen Direct Lending Funds.  ABPCI targets primary-issue middle market credit opportunities that are directly sourced and privately negotiated. As of July 2023, ABPCI has approximately $6.3 billion in assets under management.

Cerberus Capital Management

Advise Cerberus Capital Management on the formation and operation of many of its investment funds, and in those funds' portfolio transactions, covering a wide range of lending, credit, NPL and commercial and residential real estate and mortgage strategies.  We also advised Cerberus in connection with the investment of Dyal Capital in its Direct Lending platform.  Cerberus has approximately $60 billion in assets under management as of June 2023 and has advisory offices in the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and Africa.

MGG

Advise MGG on the formation and operation of their private debt investment funds covering a wide range of senior secured loans, revolving credit and other types of loans.  Schulte also represents MGG’s recently launched structured solutions platform, which invests in mezzanine debt, preferred and/or minority common equity, offering investors exposure up and down the capital structure. MGG primarily focuses on North American companies with EBITDA between $5 million and $50 million.  MGG has approximately $4.6 billion in assets under management with offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta.

Avenue Capital Group

Advise Avenue Capital Group with respect to the formation and operation of several of its closed-end investment vehicles, including multiple generations of its credit opportunity funds which invest primarily in first- or second-lien secured bank loans and also other unsecured debt instruments of leveraged, non-investment-grade companies in the United States and Europe.  Avenue Capital Group is a global investment firm that was founded in 1995, which is primarily focused on specialty lending, distressed debt and other special situations investments in the United States, Europe and Asia, managing approximately $12.6 billion as of June 2023.

Black Diamond Capital Management

Advise Black Diamond Capital Management, L.L.C. with respect to the formation and operation of its closed-end BDCM Opportunity Funds, its hedge funds and its credit strategies funds, as well as its co-investment and continuation vehicles. Black Diamond specializes in high-yield credit, stressed and distressed credit, restructurings and business turnarounds.  Black Diamond has been in operation for more than two decades and has over $10 billion in assets under management as of December 2022.

GoldenTree Asset Management

Advise GoldenTree Asset Management with respect to the formation and operation of many of GoldenTree's private investment funds, including its oversubscribed Distressed Fund IV and its Opportunistic Structured Products Strategy that includes its private equity style vehicles which are a part of the GoldenTree Loan Management (GLM) program. The GLM program captures the equity profile of GoldenTree issued CLOs through an innovative “CMV” structure and approach to CLO issuance.  GoldenTree was founded in 2000 and manages approximately $51 billion for institutional investors, including leading public and corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds.

Silver Point Capital

Advise Silver Point Capital’s flagship fund for nearly 20 years.  We also represent Silver Point with respect to certain transactional matters, regulatory and compliance matters, management company structuring, employment matters and certain of its funds of one.  Silver Point specializes in global credit and special situations investing and as of April 2023, manages approximately $23 billion in investible assets.  

AB CarVal Investors

Advise AB CarVal Investors on the formation and operation of its flagship closed-end Credit Value Funds, Clean Energy Funds as well as their other investments and co-investment vehicles.  We also advised CarVal on its 2019 MBO from Cargill Inc., and in its 2022 sale to AllianceBernstein.  AB CarVal Investors is global alternative asset manager with approximately $16 billion in assets under management in corporate securities, loan portfolios, structured credit and hard assets.

CapitalSpring

Advise CapitalSpring, a provider of senior and mezzanine debt and private equity to food service businesses, franchised/independent restaurants and related industries, in the formation and operation of a number of closed-end private funds.  Since 2005, CapitalSpring has invested over $2.8 billion in capital and made more than 200 high-yielding senior secured loans to and subordinate capital investments in restaurant operating platforms with more than 6,500 locations globally across more than 70 brands.

Bayview Asset Management

Advise Bayview Asset Management on the formation and launch of its private funds that focus on the entire value chain of lending and credit-related financial instruments, assets and operating businesses, mortgage-related investments and market dislocations in the structured products market.  Bayview has approximately $15.8 billion in assets under management and offices in Florida, New York, London and Geneva.

Bardin Hill Investment Partners

Advise Bardin Hill Investment Partners on the formation and operation of its flagship Bardin Hill Opportunistic Credit Fund LP and its parallel side-car vehicle to pursue the firm’s flagship closed-end strategy. Bardin Hill is a global investment management firm specializing in various credit strategies, such as opportunistic credit, performing credit and merger arbitrage. Today, Bardin Hill has approximately $5.4 billion in assets under management.

AGL Credit Management

Advise AGL Credit Management, a loan and CLO firm founded by Peter Gleysteen and Thomas H. Lee, in its formation with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and in the design and launch of its innovative credit/private equity “Core Fund.”  AGL has quickly built a leading CLO franchise while also offering the simple lower-levered stable return private debt “Core Fund” strategy that aims to deliver reliable high single-digit returns in an efficient and scalable structure with a significant element of current return.  AGL Credit Management has approximately $12.8 billion in assets under management.

Serengeti Asset Management

Advise Serengeti Asset Management on the formation and operation of all of its investment funds, including its closed-end special situations Serengeti Caracal Fund and its related co-investment vehicles.  Serengeti Caracal purchases or originates special situations, value and distressed investments throughout the credit cycle. Serengeti Asset Management is a value-driven investment firm that focuses on niche credit opportunities defined by their small size and complexity and invests in performing debt and high-yielding opportunities. Serengeti has approximately $1 billion in assets under management.

Ares Management Corporation

Advise Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: Ares) on commingled funds, funds of one and separately managed accounts with Multi-Asset Credit strategies within its credit group, having raised over $1.5 billion across such investment vehicles to date.  Ares’ Multi-Asset Credit strategies combine both syndicated loans and high-yield bonds, as well as other asset categories, including structured credit, special situations, and related credit instruments, into a single portfolio. These portfolios are designed to offer investors a flexible solution to global credit investing by allowing Ares to tactically allocate between multiple asset classes in various market conditions in order to capture the best relative value. This strategy invests globally, can be highly customized, and is designed to “go anywhere” within the liquid non-investment grade credit universe.

Shenkman Capital

Founded in 1985 by Mark Shenkman, Shenkman advises on $25 billion of traditional and alternative credit assets.  Schulte advises Shenkman on all of its alternative asset management products such as its open-end and closed-end credit funds. Schulte most recently advised Shenkman on its closed-end collateralized bond fund, Shenkman CBO Opportunity Fund I, which held its initial closing on August 1, 2023.

Brinley Partners

Advise Kerry Dolan (formerly Managing Director, Principal Debt and Credit Investments at PSP Investments) on the establishment of Brinley Partners LP (“Brinley Partners”) and its funds, with seed-backing by an affiliate of a large Canadian investment manager, providing Brinley Partners with up to $5 billion of investment capacity.  Brinley invests in senior debt (syndicated loans, bank loans, leveraged loans, first-lien loans, unitranche loans or middle-market loans), junior debt (second-lien, unsecured debt or bonds), or preferred securities, and opportunistically in related equity. 

Diameter Capital Partners

Advise Diameter Capital Partners on the capital raise for two closed-ended investment funds that invest in a wide range of credit opportunities and CLOs.  Founded in 2017, Diameter is a credit-focused investment manager based in New York City. Diameter has approximately $13 billion in assets under management and targets investments across the full spectrum of corporate credit.

New Mountain Capital

Advised New Mountain Capital on the formation and operation of its first private Credit Fund and a separate private business development company (BDC).  New Mountain manages private equity, public equity, credit and net lease capital.  Founded in 1999, the firm has committed capital across private equity, credit, net lease and public equity investment strategies. New Mountain has approximately $37 billion in assets under management with offices in New York, San Francisco and London.

Columbus Hill

Advise Columbus Hill Capital Management with respect to the formation, offering and operation of each of its funds since Columbus Hill’s inception in 2006.  Notably, within the last year advised Columbus Hill on the launch of its credit dislocation opportunities funds. Schulte also represents Columbus Hill with respect to regulatory and compliance matters, management company structuring and transactional matters.  Columbus Hill has approximately $1.7 billion in assets under management.

Upper90

Advise Upper90, which is a hybrid investment manager founded by Billy Libby (ex-Goldman Sachs) and Jason Finger (founder of Seamless Web) that uses data to provide tailored debt and equity to technology startups that have predictable revenue or collateral. Schulte advises Upper90 on all aspects of its business, including closed-end credit fund formation, compliance, SEC regulation, and upper-tier structuring and design.  Upper90 closed on $180 million for the initial closing of Fund III.

Large Alternative Asset Manager

Advise a leading multi-billion dollar AUM global institutional asset manager on the formation and operation of its open-end and closed-end opportunistic credit funds and a customized credit-focused platform, as well as other multi-strategy and alternative investment vehicles. The manager’s opportunistic credit strategy has a global focus on complex process-driven opportunities as well as investments across dislocated, disrupted and distressed structured, corporate, private and real estate credit markets, with a flexible mandate to tactically allocate capital across credit markets.

Piney Lake Capital Management

Advised on the establishment of Piney Lake Capital Management LP (“PLC”) and its hybrid evergreen credit opportunities fund, including anchor investment backing by institutional investor groups. Piney Lake focuses primarily on complex, privately negotiated investments in middle market companies in North America, through flexible credit and equity-like solutions. PLC was founded by Michael Lazar, who prior to founding PLC co-founded BlackRock Kelso Capital Corporation and also previously served as a Principal and Managing Director at Kelso & Company, LP.  PLC has $655 million of regulatory asset under management.

Architect Capital

Advise Architect Capital, which is a San Francisco-based credit fund operated by James Sagan. Architect Capital is known for its Latin America-focused venture debt transactions and expertise.  However, it also makes loans in the United States in various special situations.

Readystate Capital

Established in August 2021, Readystate was founded by David Grossman and Ryan Garino. Grossman and Garino had been the co-heads of global credit in Citadel’s Chicago office. Readystate trades convertible debt and makes opportunistic private debt investments.

OnyxPoint Global Management

Formed in 2017 by Shaia Hosseinzadeh, OnyxPoint focuses on credit investments in the commodities sector. Schulte advises OnyxPoint on their complex, open-end hybrid funds.