Cerberus Business Finance, the direct lending affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, added Andrew Woolford to the firm as a managing director in its New York office, starting in May 2017.

Woolford will manage Cerberus Business Finance’s capital markets activities, including the acquisition of performing secondary loans within both the private middle market and broadly syndicated loan spaces.

He joins from Jefferies, where he spent 13 years, most recently as the head of leveraged loan sales. Prior to Jefferies, Woolford spent a combined 21 years in leveraged finance roles at CIBC World Markets, Morgan Stanley, Bankers Trust (BT Securities) and Chemical Bank.

Keith Read, president of Cerberus Business Finance, said, “We are very pleased to welcome Andrew to the team. He has deep relationships with many institutions participating in the U.S. middle market, which will greatly enhance our pipeline of investments and further develop our extensive network of clients.”

“I am excited to be joining Cerberus Business Finance and look forward to working with this talented team, many of whom I have known both personally and professionally for many years,” Woolford said. “They have a well-established direct lending platform with a successful track record, spanning over 22 years, and I see an extraordinary opportunity to drive future growth by expanding and deepening Cerberus Business Finance’s position in the market.”

Cerberus Business Finance currently manages over $13 billion of capital dedicated to its middle-market direct lending business. In 2016, Cerberus Business Finance completed over 70 transactions, primarily as lead agent, totaling $5.3 billion of credit facilities.