Medalist Partners Announces Acquisition of Majority Stake in CLO Manager

NEW YORK--()--Medalist Partners, LP (“Medalist Partners” or “Medalist”), an alternative asset management firm specializing in structured credit and asset-backed lending, announced today that it has acquired a majority stake in JMP Credit Advisors LLC (“JMP Credit Advisors”), a U.S.-based investment manager with expertise in managing collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”), from a subsidiary of JMP Group LLC (NYSE:JMP), which will remain as a minority investor in JMP Credit Advisors and an investor in the CLOs that JMP Credit Advisors manages.

As a result of the transaction, JMP Credit Advisors has been renamed Medalist Partners Corporate Finance LLC, and it will continue to manage three CLOs with approximately $1.2 billion in assets under management. JMP Credit Advisors’ leadership team, which includes Bryan Hamm, Craig Kitchin and Fred Passenant, will lead the CLO business unit of Medalist Partners, supported by their existing team. There are no changes planned to JMP Credit Advisors’ investment strategy or process.

“We are excited to welcome the JMP Credit Advisors team to Medalist Partners,” said Greg Richter, Medalist CEO and Co-Head of Structured Credit & Asset Finance. Mr. Richter added: “JMP Credit Advisors is a highly regarded CLO manager with a seasoned team of investment professionals, and they have built a tremendous business over the last decade plus. In addition to offering our clients high quality access to the CLO market, we expect the CLO business to further complement our existing platform with increased market access, investment sourcing capabilities, and diversity of our AUM and client base.” Brian Herr, Medalist CIO and Co-Head of Structured Credit & Asset Finance, further said: “The addition of this CLO business is a natural extension of our existing structured credit and private credit investment platform, and it offers our investors access to an asset class with stable, attractive returns, which has performed well through multiple market cycles.” Lastly, Bryan Hamm, President of JMP Credit Advisors (now, President & CEO of Medalist Partners Corporate Finance), said: “We believe Medalist’s experienced investment team, robust infrastructure and demonstrated track record of disciplined investment performance make them a great fit for our business and its continued success. We look forward to working with the Medalist team to take advantage of attractive opportunities across the leveraged loan market.”

Lowenstein Sandler LLP served as legal counsel for Medalist Partners on the transaction.

About Medalist Partners:

Medalist Partners is an alternative investment manager with approximately $2.25 billion in AUM across strategies in structured credit and asset finance. The platform includes liquid alternatives, hedge funds, private debt vehicles and CLOs. Headquartered in New York, the 31-person team is led by partners Greg Richter, Brian Herr and Michael Ardisson. Medalist’s clients include pensions, endowments, foundations, banks, fund of funds, family offices and HNW individuals. The business and track record were started within Credit Suisse and Candlewood Investment Group prior to being spun-out as an independent, partner-owned firm in 2018. The Medalist team has extensive experience in asset finance, structured products, investment banking, securitization, and credit underwriting. For more information, visit www.medalistpartners.com.

Contacts

Medalist Partners
Michael Ardisson
COO, Head of Business Development & Partner
212.461.4299
mardisson@medalistpartners.com

Contacts

Medalist Partners
Michael Ardisson
COO, Head of Business Development & Partner
212.461.4299
mardisson@medalistpartners.com