The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) today announced it has closed
GS Loan Partners I with $10.5 billion in equity and leverage
commitments, including more than $1 billion of equity from the firm and
its employees. This is the first senior debt fund of its kind raised by
Goldman Sachs and the 15th fund formed by the
firm’s Principal Investment Area (PIA) since
1986.
The fund seeks to generate current income as well as long-term capital
appreciation through senior secured loan investments. Its primary focus
will be providing senior secured loans to finance leveraged buyouts,
recapitalizations and acquisitions for leveraged buyout firms and other
corporate issuers. Investments in high-quality companies together with
the seniority and collateral of the loans should provide GS Loan
Partners with a strong position in the capital structure and an
attractive risk profile for these investments.
“GS Loan Partners is a natural extension of PIA’s
business, in particular our GS Mezzanine Partners business where we have
been a global market leader in providing subordinated debt since 1996,”
said Richard A. Friedman, Head of the Merchant Banking Division of
Goldman Sachs. “With our well established
investment platform and the fund’s sizeable
capital base, we are seeing attractive investment opportunities.”
“The current environment of constrained
balance sheets and declining new leveraged loan issuance has created
significant opportunities for GS Loan Partners,”
said Thomas G. Connolly, Managing Director with global responsibilities
for GS Loan Partners. “Our unique ability to
provide senior debt issuers with commitments in size on known terms and
with certainty of financing should allow us to provide our investors
with attractive, risk-adjusted returns.”
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a bank holding company and a leading
global investment banking, securities and investment management firm.
Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains
offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial
centers around the world. Established in 1986, the firm’s
Principal Investment Area is part of the Merchant Banking Division and
includes the GS Capital Partners, GS Loan Partners and GS Mezzanine
Partners funds. To date, the Principal Investment Area has raised 15
funds aggregating more than $82 billion of capital and leverage
commitments. With a global team of approximately 140 investment
professionals, Goldman Sachs’ Principal
Investment Area has expertise in a wide variety of industries and
regions. GS Loan Partners I is Goldman Sachs’
first fund dedicated to providing senior secured loans and investing in
senior debt.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
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Andrea
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or
Europe
Paul Kafka,
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