Clearlake Capital Group Buys CLO Investor WhiteStar Asset Management
Posted on 06/24/2020
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. acquired a majority stake in Dallas-based Whitestar Asset Management, LLC from Pine Brook Capital Partners. WhiteStar’s management team, led by Chief Executive Officer Gibran Mahmud, also participated on the buyside of the transaction. The combined assets under management of the two companies would now be roughly US$ 24 billion.
WhiteStar is an investor in the syndicated bank loan space, with a focus on collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”). Over the last three years, WhiteStar increased AUM from US$ 1.5 billion to approximately US$ 6 billion and completed seven new CLOs under the “Trinitas” name, marking twelve CLOs since inception of the platform. WhiteStar Asset Management is the staff and services provider for Trinitas Capital Management.
On March 30, 2017, Pine Brook bought Triumph Capital Advisors, LLC from Triumph Bancorp, Inc. Triumph Capital Advisors was renamed to WhiteStar. Pine Brook had also provided a US$ 250 million line of equity to Trinitas Capital Management, LLC.
Advisors
Berkshire Global Advisors acted as financial advisor to Pine Brook and WhiteStar. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as legal advisor to Pine Brook and Milbank LLP acted as legal advisor to WhiteStar.
Greensledge Capital Markets acted as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP acted as legal advisor to Clearlake.