WHITESTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCES OPENING OF NEW LONDON OFFICE TO DRIVE THE FIRM’S EUROPEAN EXPANSION
The Clearlake Capital Group Affiliate Also Announces the Closing of $511 Million CLO
DALLAS, TX, April 22, 2021 – WhiteStar Asset Management (“WhiteStar”), the CLO, structured products, and broadly syndicated credit arm of Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”), announced today the opening of a London office to drive its European expansion and part of the firm’s commitment to its European investors. The office will be led by Gordon Neilly, who has joined the firm as Executive Chairman of WhiteStar Asset Management, Europe.
WhiteStar also announced the closing of Trinitas CLO XV, a $511 million Collateralized Loan Obligation (“CLO”). With this closing, WhiteStar manages over 16 structured credit products and CLOs with approximately $7 billion of assets under management (AUM).
Trinitas XV closes with the inclusion of new and existing investors, both from the United States as well as European-based investors that were attracted to the CLO’s compliance with European risk retention regulations. Trinitas XV, which is primarily comprised of senior secured first lien loans, marks WhiteStar’s third CLO of the year. It follows the refinancing of Trinitas CLO V and the reset of Trinitas CLO VI earlier this year. Including Trinitas XV, Clearlake and WhiteStar have invested over $15 billion in structured and opportunistic credit investments.
“We are pleased to have priced our latest CLO fund of the year at attractive financing spreads and plan to be a repeat issuer of CLOs in 2021,” said Gibran Mahmud, CEO of WhiteStar. “Equally important, we were able to attract new European investors to the platform, and opening our new London office will allow us to better serve these investors. We are extremely excited to have Gordon aboard to lead our European expansion, while we continue to look for opportunities to expand our top-performing credit platform into the European market. Gordon is a world-class executive who is highly regarded in the asset management world and we are fortunate to add him to our team.”
Mr. Neilly was previously Chief of Staff at Standard Life Aberdeen, where he acted as advisor to the CEO, and was also responsible for developing the group’s strategy and overseeing its implementation. Mr. Neilly joined Standard Life Aberdeen in 2016 from Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, where he was co-CEO. His prior positions include serving as Managing Director, Corporate Finance at Canaccord Genuity, as well as Founder and CEO of Intelli Partners.
“This is an incredible opportunity to join WhiteStar at an important juncture of the firm’s growth, especially at a time when the demand for private credit is gathering momentum across all geographies,” said Mr. Neilly. “I look forward to helping to spearhead growth across our entire credit platform, including loans, CLOs, CLO investing, credit opportunities, and other new products.”
“We continue to remain excited about WhiteStar’s ability to expand its structured credit platform. In less than one year since Clearlake’s acquisition, WhiteStar has launched three CLOs and expanded its strategy overseas,” said José E. Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali, Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Clearlake. “We’re pleased to welcome Gordon, a seasoned industry executive, to the Clearlake family and look forward to the firm’s continued strategic expansion into Europe.”
About WhiteStar
WhiteStar Asset Management is the CLO, structured products, and broadly syndicated credit arm of Clearlake Capital Group. Managing more than $40bn in combined AUM, the firm is focused on private equity, special situations and credit. WhiteStar boasts a deep and experienced team of investment professionals which has decades of experience in structuring, investing, and managing senior secured loan portfolios with the team having issued over $40 billion of CLOs in their history. WhiteStar is comprised of a stable and seasoned, cohesive team, characterized by a breadth of analytical resources and proprietary market intelligence. WhiteStar has a conservative credit culture focused on fundamental credit work and primarily invests in broadly syndicated senior secured loans and CLO tranches. WhiteStar has approximately $7 billion of fee generating assets and is the staff and services provider for Trinitas Capital Management. www.whitestaram.com
About Clearlake
Founded in 2006, Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is an investment firm operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with experienced 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 $35 billion of assets under management, and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 300 investments. The firm has offices in Santa Monica and Dallas. More information is available at www.clearlake.com and on Twitter @ClearlakeCap.
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