Assured Guaranty acquisition of BlueMountain : Assured Guaranty, Bermuda-based financial guaranty insurance company, said that its subsidiary Assured Guaranty US Holdings (AGUS) has agreed to acquire BlueMountain Capital Management and its associated entities for about $160 million.

Based in New York, BlueMountain Capital Management is an alternative asset management company having $19.3 billion in assets under management (AUM).

BlueMountain Capital Management manages assets in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), long-duration opportunity funds that consolidate on the company’s corporate credit, asset-backed finance, infrastructure and healthcare experience, and four relative value hedge funds.

BlueMountain Capital Management is said to be the 16th largest global CLO manager in terms of AUM.

Andrew Feldstein – BlueMountain co-founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, commenting on Assured Guaranty acquisition of BlueMountain, said: “Assured Guaranty is a well-capitalized, credit-focused financial services group that believes in BlueMountain’s strength and long-term prospects, and it sees alternative asset management as a key element of its long-term strategy.

“Assured Guaranty’s asset management business will capitalize on the many synergies between the companies, including BlueMountain’s significant experience in CLOs, asset securitization, infrastructure investments and health care finance.”

Assured Guaranty acquisition of BlueMountain is said to be in line with the former’s strategy to diversify into fee-based revenue sources. Furthermore, the company expects the BlueMountain platform to be the basis for further development of its footprint in the asset management sector.

Dominic Frederico – Assured Guaranty President and CEO, commenting on Assured Guaranty acquisition of BlueMountain, said: “We have been searching for the right asset management platform for over three years, and we found it in BlueMountain, a seasoned asset management firm with a compatible credit culture, complementary market knowledge and the scale to make a material contribution to Assured Guaranty’s profitability.

“BlueMountain will be our largest and most important investment outside the financial guaranty sector. We expect to allocate a portion of our financial guaranty subsidiaries’ investment portfolios to be managed by our new asset management platform and believe that will drive improvement in our overall investment returns, which should raise the future level of insurance subsidiary permitted dividends.”

Assured Guaranty acquisition of BlueMountain, which is subject to certain customary closing conditions such as receipt of consents and regulatory approval, is anticipated to be wrapped up in Q4 2019.

  Andrew Feldstein, asset management company, Assured Guaranty, Assured Guaranty US Holdings, BlueMountain Capital Management, Dominic Frederico, financial guaranty insurance company, Financial service news, New York, USA