Nuveen buys European private debt manager

Oksana Patron

31 October 2022

Nuveen has announced it acquired a controlling interest in European private debt manager, Arcmont Asset Management, which has raised since its inception over $26 billion of capital from more than 350 blue-chip investors and committed over $20 billion to 270 transactions across Europe.

The transaction, which financial terms were not disclosed, remained a subject to Financial Conduct Authority and other regulatory approval.

Nuveen, which is the investment manager of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA), said the acquisition was expected to help expand its presence into Europe and would complement its North American private debt and private equity specialist Churchill Asset Management.

According to TIAA’s manager, the combined capabilities of Arcmont and Churchill would create one of the largest private debt managers, with more than $60 billion in combined committed capital, bringing Nuveen’s alternative credit assets under management (AUM) to $178 billion.

Under the terms of a deal, Arcmont and Churchill would work together in partnership, forming a new entity, Nuveen Private Capital, which would have a bigger geographic scale and broader range of products as well as financing options available for corporate borrowers.

Both firms would continue to be managed by their respective leadership teams and would have jointly more than 240 investments and support professionals serving a combined investor base of approximately 600 institutional and family office investors.

Ken Kencel, Churchill’s president and chief executive, and Anthony Fobel, chief executive of Arcmont, would be co-CEOs of Nuveen Private Capital and would report to William Huffman, head of Nuveen equity and fixed income.

Also, both managers would continue to operate under their own respective names and brands, with no change to investments teams or processes.

The transaction means Nuveen had entered into the definitive agreement to acquire its controlling stake in Arcmont including the minority stake held by Dyal Capital Partners IV.

Arcmont, which was founded in 2011, provides financing solutions across a wide range of companies, industries and markets, with approximately 100 employees spread across six offices in Europe, and combines “pan-European origination capabilities with long-standing relationships among private equity firms, corporates and advisers”.

“We are very excited to partner with Arcmont, a recognized leader in the European debt market, to build upon our position as one of the leading private capital providers in the US,” Kencel said.

“Together our two firms can provide our private equity clients with scaled and integrated financing solutions and our investors with access to a broader array of attractive investment opportunities from a best-in-class global private capital platform.”