Simpson Thacher represented Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”) in connection with its acquisition of a majority stake in WhiteStar Asset Management ("WhiteStar") from Pine Brook Capital Partners in partnership with WhiteStar's management team. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
WhiteStar is a credit-focused investment management firm, with an emphasis on managing syndicated bank loans and deep experience in investing in and managing bank loans, loan acquisition, loan origination, credit analysis, portfolio management, trading, collateralized loan obligation (CLO) investing, and CLO deal structuring and compliance. WhiteStar has approximately $6 billion of fee generating assets and is the staff and services provider for Trinitas Capital Management.
Clearlake is a leading private investment firm founded in 2006. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with world-class 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 $24 billion of assets under management and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 200 investments.
The Simpson Thacher team included Matthew Rogers, Rex Hupy and Albi Kocibelli (M&A); Crystal Frierson, Matthew Kemp and John Kreager (Private Funds); Tristan Brown and Alyssa Ohanian (Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits) and Jacqueline Clinton (Tax); Rajib Chanda, Allison Bernbach, Ryan Brizek, Steven Grigoriou and Lauryn Harris (Funds Regulatory); John Schueller and Katherine Draper (Capital Markets – Securitization); Genevieve Dorment (Intellectual Property); Amelia Gordon (Credit); and Steven DeLott (Insurance).