CIFC is pricing its debut European CLO, according to presale reports.
A UK affiliate of the U.S.-based alternative asset management firm is sponsoring the €407.5 million (US$459.6 million) CIFC European Funding CLO 1 Designated Activity Company transaction, via Deutsche Bank. CIFC CLO Management II is pricing the triple-A rated senior notes totaling €248 million at Euribor plus 114 basis points.
The deal will have a two-year noncall period and 4.5-year reinvestment period, and a pool with a minimum of 95% senior secured loans collateral. CIFC European Funding CLO 1 will carry a weighted average life of 8.5 years, according to Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.
The presales were issued as CIFC also announced the hiring of first analyst research team for its London operations that opened in 2018. The new team includes senior analyst Rinse Terpstra, formerly of Chenavari Investment Managers; analyst Zoltan Paller, formerly of UBS; analyst Max Elliott-Taylor, joining from InvestCorp Credit Management in London; and analyst Alessandro Garello Cantoni from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
CIFC had previously this year appointed European chief investment officer Dan Robinson and head of European marketing Joshua Hughes to the London office. In January, CIFC launched its first European-based retail investment fund targeting mezzanine tranches of CLO bonds.
The UCITS-structured credit fund currently has US$85 million in assets under management.
