WhiteStar Asset Management, the collateralized loan obligation, structured products and broadly syndicated credit arm of Clearlake Capital Group, opened a London office to drive its European expansion and its commitment to its European investors. The office will be led by Gordon Neilly, who joined the firm as executive chairman of WhiteStar Asset Management, Europe.
WhiteStar also closed Trinitas CLO XV, a $511 million collateralized loan obligation. With this closing, WhiteStar now manages more than 16 structured credit products and CLOs with approximately $7 billion of assets under management.
Trinitas XV closed 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, WhiteStar and Clearlake have invested more than $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,” Gibran Mahmud, CEO of WhiteStar Asset Management, said. “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.”
Neilly was previously chief of staff at Standard Life Aberdeen, where he acted as advisor to the CEO and was responsible for developing the group’s strategy and overseeing its implementation. Neilly joined Standard Life Aberdeen in 2016 from Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, where he was co-CEO. His prior positions include serving as managing director of corporate finance at Canaccord Genuity and 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,” Neilly said. “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,” José E. Feliciano and Behdad Eghbali, co-founders and managing partners of Clearlake Capital Group, said in a joint statement. “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.”
