(Bloomberg) -- Apollo Global Management Inc.'s structured credit business Atlas SP Partners received its broker-dealer license and is preparing to start secondary trading, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
In recent weeks, the firm has told structured credit investors that it will be able to soon facilitate secondary trades under the name Atlas SP Securities, a division of Apollo Global Securities LLC, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential matters. The strategy, still in its early days, will support Atlas' primary issuance business, the people said.
Spokespeople for Apollo and Atlas declined to comment.
Apollo formed Atlas in February 2023 through a takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG's securitized products business, which had been one of the top arrangers of asset-backed and residential mortgage-backed securities in the US. Bookrunners — institutions that organize new bond issuances — typically also have capacity to trade the securities after the primary sale.
That Credit Suisse business, which dated back to Wall Street's early mortgage-bond days in the 1980s, became one of the investment bank's riskiest and most lucrative units. At times, it churned enough profit to prop up the entire bank before it collapsed into the arms of UBS Group AG last year.
When Atlas debuted, it boasted a portfolio of $40 billion in commitments under management, according to a November 2023 Apollo report. It lends to mortgage providers and other businesses, packaging some of that debt into securities sold to investors.
In recent weeks, Atlas has helped sell bonds tied to Pagaya Technologies Ltd.'s consumer loans, BBAM Aircraft Leasing & Management's aircraft debt and Ascent Funding's student loans. It's currently helping market asset-backed bonds tied to Marriott Vacations Worldwide's timeshare debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
Atlas is central to Apollo Chief Executive Officer Marc Rowan's ambitions to build a credit machine that rivals Wall Street banks. He wants Apollo's 16 origination platforms — which offer mortgages, aircraft loans and other debt that can be structured into private credit investments — to generate between $200 billion to $250 billion in annual volume in five years. Apollo bundles private credit that can be sold to Athene, its annuities business, and other insurance companies.
Last week, Apollo and Atlas got $5 billion in financing from BNP Paribas to facilitate its private lending business, muscling deeper into turf once dominated by banks.
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