From Kirsten Bischoff, Opalesque New York: One firm looking to take advantage of the opportunities in the credit space is Onex Credit Partners (OCP), who, in December 2007, launched its second strategy, the OCP Senior Credit Strategy.
The Strategy, which is opened to outside investors, launched with $80m in assets, and Opalesque recently had a chance to speak with Sean Duff of OCP about the credit environment, the Strategy and the importance of permanent capital in meeting investment goals, which are targeted for a two-to-three-year time frame.
The OCP Senior Credit Strategy is managed by Michael Gelblat and Stuart Kovensky, who originally partnered in 2001 at John A. Levin & Co with a debt opportunity fund. The pair launched on their own in 2006 (GK Capital LLC) with a Debt Opportunity Strategy and then after being 50% purchased by the large, Toronto-based private equity firm Onex Corporation, re-branded itself with the Onex name and launched the OCP Senior Credit Strategy in December 2007.
The credit strategy is predominantly long only and focused on the senior secured credit space and first- lien loans. The managers see the market dislocations as well as the expected future environment providing the perfect opportunity to take advantage of what they target to be 15-25% gross returns over two to three years.
“We are not looking to lever four to five times on first-lien loans to get attractive returns,” said Duff. “We are looking for attractive cash-on-cash returns first, and then enhancing those returns with modest leverage knowing we have adequate protection through asset coverage and cash generation by the companies we invest in.“
Has 2-3 years become “long term” to investors? The credit space, which the OCP managers saw would provide opportunities when they......................
To view our full article Click here
