(Bloomberg) — Billionaire Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries is exploring strategic options for its CBAM Partners credit unit that could include selling a majority stake in the business, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Eldridge has had discussions with at least a handful of firms over a potential transaction for CBAM, which manages over $15 billion of assets primarily through collateralized loan obligations, according to the people, who asked not to be named when discussing a private matter. If successful, a deal could value the credit firm at $500 million to $1 billion, one of the people said.
Representatives for CBAM and Eldridge Industries, Boehly’s holding company and CBAM’s majority owner, declined to comment. The company could end up selling a smaller stake or maintaining its current holding, and the talks — which are preliminary — could also end without a deal, the people said.
Credit investments such as CLOs and the junk-rated corporate loans that make up their portfolios have attracted a frenzy of investor interest because of the promise of higher returns and the protection they offer against rising interest rates. Retail investors are piling into leveraged-loan funds at the fastest pace on record, according to data from Refinitiv Lipper.
Meanwhile, large asset managers have been venturing into less-traveled areas of the credit markets to differentiate their offering and chase higher yields than those available in the public markets. Private equity firm KKR & Co. is among suitors competing to acquire Bank of New York Mellon Corp.’s alternative credit investment arm Alcentra, Bloomberg has reported. T. Rowe Price Group Inc. in October unveiled a $4.2 billion deal to buy Oak Hill Advisors, a manager focused on alternative credit investments.
Eldridge has amassed a sprawling empire with holdings from Hollywood to insurance and from e-sports to facial-recognition technology. Ex-Guggenheim President Boehly, who also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers and a stake in the Beverly Hilton hotel, is unlikely to sell Eldridge’s entire stake in CBAM, the people said.
CBAM has issued more than $12 billion of CLOs since its founding in 2016 by Don Young, Mike Damaso, and Jay Garrett. The firm employs over 30 investment professionals, according to its website.
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