have together sold a majority interest to

Berkshire Global Advisors acted as financial advisor to WhiteStar Asset Management

Date: June 2020

Sector: Private Markets – Private Equity / Credit

Sub-Sector: Credit

Region: North America

Seller AUM: $6 Billion

Seller Details:
WhiteStar Asset Management is a credit-focused investment management firm, with emphasis on managing syndicated bank loans. Its team of talented professionals has deep experience in investing in and managing bank loans, loan acquisition, loan origination, credit analysis, portfolio management, trading, collateralized loan obligation (CLO) investing, and CLO deal structuring and compliance. WhiteStar has approximately $6.0 billion of fee generating assets and is the staff and services provider for Trinitas Capital Management.

Pine Brook has approximately $3.6 billion of assets under management across two investment strategies: Financial Services and Energy. Through dedicated, sector-focused teams Pine Brook makes “business building” and other investments that drive growth. Collectively, Pine Brook’s team of investment professionals has over 300 years of experience financing the growth of businesses with equity, working alongside talented entrepreneurs and experienced management teams to build businesses of scale without relying on acquisition leverage.

Buyer Details:
Clearlake is a leading private investment firm founded in 2006. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with world-class management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake’s operational improvement approach, O.P.S.® The firm’s core target sectors are technology, industrials, and consumer. Clearlake currently has approximately $24 billion of assets under management and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 200 investments.

Transaction Summary:
Clearlake Capital Group has acquired a majority stake in WhiteStar Asset Management from Pine Brook Capital Partners in partnership with WhiteStar’s management team, led by Chief Executive Officer Gibran Mahmud. The Clearlake and WhiteStar combined assets under management (“AUM”) are now approximately $24 billion.

WhiteStar is a leading investor in the syndicated bank loan space, with a focus on collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”). Over the last three years, WhiteStar increased AUM from $1.5 billion to approximately $6.0 billion and completed seven new CLOs under the “Trinitas” name, marking twelve CLOs since inception of the platform.