Investcorp is buying US private credit manager Marble Point for about $200mn as the Bahrain-based investment manager significantly boosts its presence in US credit markets at a time of higher interest rates.
The acquisition underscores the push into private credit markets by Middle Eastern investors flush with cash thanks to high oil and gas prices at a time when sharply rising rates are boosting yields.
Founded in Bahrain in the 1980s, Investcorp manages $42.7bn of assets and once owned large stakes in Gucci and Saks Fifth Avenue. In recent years it has become a diversified alternative asset manager, with units dedicated to corporate buyouts, credit investments, real estate, and infrastructure. It manages money on behalf of institutions globally and wealthy individuals in the Middle East.
As oil prices have skyrocketed, fund managers in energy-rich Gulf states such as Bahrain have become interested in deploying excess cash into credit-based investments to take advantage of attractive returns.
Marble Point has largely focused its business on investing in the US loan market, including issuing and managing collateralised loan obligations, known as CLOs.
The firm manages $7.8bn and, once the takeover by Investcorp is completed, the combined firm will oversee $22bn in credit assets. Investcorp said the deal would make it one of the top 15 managers of CLOs.
The proliferation of CLOs over the past decade supercharged the $1.4tn leveraged loan market as managers raised hundreds of billions of dollars to invest in the floating rate debt.