Primus Asset Management, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Primus
Guaranty, Ltd. (NYSE:PRS), today announced it had entered into a
definitive agreement to acquire CypressTree Investment Management, LLP.
Founded in 1995, CypressTree manages leveraged loans and high yield
bonds in a variety of investment products, including collateralized loan
obligations (CLOs), collateralized swap obligations (CSOs), off-shore
funds and separately managed accounts. Its assets under management total
approximately $2.4 billion.
Following the acquisition, CypressTree will operate as a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Primus Asset Management (PAM), which will have over $25
billion in assets under management in structured credit vehicles. This
includes the $21 billion notional credit default swaps portfolio of
Primus Financial Products, LLC, as well as two existing Primus CLOs with
$800 million in assets and three existing Primus CSOs totaling $800
million.
Martha Hadeler and Robert E. Weeden, CypressTree partners and portfolio
managers, will join Primus as Senior Portfolio Managers and will assume
responsibility for managing its loan and high-yield platform, including
its CLOs. They will report to Thomas Jasper, Primus Guaranty’s chief
executive officer.
“The acquisition of CypressTree marks a solid step forward in our
strategy to leverage our platform and increase the scale and scope of
our credit asset management business,” said Mr. Jasper. “It also
significantly strengthens our investment capabilities, as Martha and Bob
bring excellent track records and five decades of combined experience to
Primus. I’m delighted to welcome the CypressTree team to our company.”
Robert E. Weeden commented, “In joining forces with Primus, we are
bringing together two fundamental credit investors who share a common
investment approach to build a robust loan and high yield platform with
the size and skills to succeed in today’s market.”
Fusion Advisory Partners, Inc. ("Fusion") acted as advisor to Primus
Asset Management on the acquisition. Fusion provides third party
independent advice to participants in the fixed income structured
product market.
About Primus Guaranty
Primus Guaranty, Ltd. is a Bermuda company, with its principal operating
subsidiaries, Primus Financial Products, LLC and Primus Asset
Management, Inc., headquartered in New York City. Primus Financial
Products provides protection against the risk of default on corporate,
sovereign and asset-backed security obligations through the sale of
credit swaps to dealers and banks.
