The $73 billion global growth equity firm General Atlantic has agreed to purchase Iron Park Capital Partners, a credit firm that will be part of the creation of General Atlantic Credit (GA Credit).
Founded in 2019 by Tripp Smith, Iron Park Capital already had a strategic joint venture formed in 2020 with General Atlantic Service Company to pursue a strategic credit strategy through the launch of the Atlantic Park Fund. The GP of the fund is owned by affiliates of General Atlantic and Iron Park on a 50/50 basis. To date, the joint venture has committed over $2.2 billion to 13 companies. As of February 2022, Iron Park had just over $4 billion in assets under management, according to regulatory filings.
GA Credit will expand General Atlantic’s ability to provide creative capital solutions to high-quality companies in need of a strategic partner at multiple stages of corporate and economic lifecycles. Smith will serve as CEO of the new entity.
“We believe that Iron Park’s experience in public and private credit strategies, combined with General Atlantic’s global platform and sector expertise, creates a distinct advantage,” Chairman and CEO of General Atlantic Bill Ford said in a statement. “Over the course of our partnership with Tripp and Iron Park, we have developed a deep mutual respect, and our global teams together have originated many exciting opportunities to provide strategic capital solutions to a broad set of companies. We are confident that GA Credit will stand out as an attractive product to businesses looking for active support, while also creating new offerings for investors looking to optimize their portfolios.”
Officials estimate that General Atlantic’s longstanding investing sectors — including consumer, financial services, healthcare and technology — represent more than half of the leveraged finance market currently.
“With the changing market environment, companies are facing complex business challenges at a pace and scale unmatched in many years,” said Smith in statement. “We anticipate significant demand for partners with sector expertise, access to flexible capital and value-add capabilities. The deeply experienced GA Credit team draws from the strengths of Iron Park and General Atlantic to bring a differentiated approach to credit through all economic lifecycles, particularly in times of market dislocation – and we are poised to execute.”
Nine managing directors and 18 additional investment professionals based in New York and London will make up the new GA Credit team.
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is slated to close in the first quarter of next year, pending requisite investor consents, regulatory approval, signing of definitive documents and other closing conditions.
