Raymond James has jumped into the red hot private credit business.
The broker-dealer announced earlier this month that Raymond James Bank has has partnered with asset manager Eldridge Industries to launch a new private credit business providing solutions to sponsor-backed portfolio companies of private equity firms.
The joint venture, called Raymond James Private Credit, will offer private credit solutions to companies in four primary sectors: consumer, diversified industrials, healthcare and technology and services, Raymond James said in a press release.
Credit industry veteran Omer Masud, fomerly head of origination and capital markets at alternative asset manager Onex Falcon, will head the venture.
Eldridge, a holding company based in Greenwich, Conn., has nearly $80 billion in total assets across its investment and insurance subsidiaries and provides both debt and equity capital to companies in insurance, media, technology and other sectors.
The deal comes at a time when the private credit sector is one of the hottest sectors on Wall Street, partly because of higher interest rates and more restrictions in the traditional banking sector.
“In light of Raymond James’ position as one of the largest middle market M&A platforms with nearly 1,000 PE firms under active coverage, the initiative will strengthen the firm’s relationship with leading PE firms across the middle market,” Raymond James said in the release.
“The private equity community has always been one of our most important client constituencies,” Jim Bunn, president of global equities and investment banking at Raymond James, said in a statement, “and the blending of the firm’s powerful investment banking platform with Omer’s expertise in private credit solutions is further proof that we are committed to deepening our PE relationships.”