The $64 billion Chicago-based Antares Capital closed its inaugural broadly syndicated loan (BSL) CLO with $450 million.
Orion CLO 2023-1, which is intended to comply with European risk retention regulations, signals a novel strategy for a firm that already has a track record of managing private credit CLOs. As of June 30, Antares had approximately $12 billion of assets under management across 12 private credit CLOs.
“We’re pleased that our first BSL CLO was very well received by the market,” said Vivek Mathew, head of asset management for Antares. “Issuing this CLO is a natural extension of our expertise and growth as an alternative asset manager, and its success is a testament to the firm’s standing with investors and the deep credit expertise that is a hallmark of the Antares brand.”
The offering follows three new hires to the firm’s New York-based liquid credit team in response to growth in the space. The new managing directors in the group are Rob Davis, Amy Ecker and Jonathan Rogers, all of whom bring experience across the credit space and within loan syndication.
Davis joins after a decade at Alcentra, where he most recently was a managing director overseeing investments in the loans and bonds of corporate borrowers across several sectors. Before Alcentra, he held senior investment roles at Nomura Corporate Research, Avenue Capital Group, BNY Asset Management and Citigroup Asset Management.
Ecker joins from HPS Investment Partners, where she was responsible for investments in the loans and bonds of corporate borrowers across several sectors. Before her tenure as a managing director at HPS, she held a similar role at Stanfield Capital Partners focusing on investments in various sectors.
Rogers, meanwhile, has focused on developing detailed financial models of broadly syndicated loan issuers, most recently at LoansIntel. Prior to that he held various investing and restructuring roles at Investcorp, Apex Credit Partners and CIT.
“Antares is pleased to welcome these seasoned experts to the Liquid Credit team as we bolster our investment capabilities, offer more ways to express relative value views and provide optionality across asset classes to our investors,” Mathew added.
