Archive for July, 2022

Mercury adds US secondaries advisory exec

Posted by Muhammad Ibrahim Masudi

The adviser and placement agent sees a growing opportunity in the US lower middle market, particularly in preferred equity.

Picture: Vik Salh

Mercury Capital Advisors has brought a new hire over from the West Coast to join its New York secondaries advisory business.

The adviser and placement agent has appointed Vik Salh vice president of secondaries, according to his LinkedIn profile. Salh joins from Davis, California-headquartered advisory shop Upwelling Capital, where he spent six years.

Mercury’s London-headquartered head of secondaries Sabina Sammartino told Secondaries Investor that the firm will make more hires in the US in response to an uptick in lower mid-market deal flow, particularly in the preferred equity space. “Given where we are in the market, in terms of volatility and the potential gap in pricing expectations between buyers and sellers, preferred equity is an elegant way of bridging that gap,” she said. “It’s something we are very much aware of and think is going to be a good opportunity in the coming months.”

Earlier this week, Secondaries Investor reported that Mercury advised on a preferred equity deal centred on European special situations manager Springwater Capital. Morningside Capital Management and LSV Advisors provided capital to help the GP take advantage of opportunities brought about by market dislocation.

Volatile public markets are making it more difficult to value private assets, leading to greater risk aversion among buyers and an increase in the number of secondaries deals stalling and being repriced, Secondaries Investor reported.

Mercury Capital was acquired by Bahrain-headquartered investment firm Investcorp in 2019. In addition to its secondaries business, it has been a regular placement agent for GPs such as Coller Capital and Asia-focused growth investor Anchor Equity Partners.

Source: Secondaries Investor

Springwater Capital partners with Morningside Capital Management and LSV Advisors in a structured solution of a European portfolio of alternative assets.

Posted by Muhammad Ibrahim Masudi

Springwater, a leading pan-European special situations investment firm, received a preferred equity investment in a portfolio of European private equity assets with a value of over €100 million. Fresh capital raised will be deployed to make new investments in Europe, one of which has already been successfully completed.  

Morningside Capital Management, a GP-led secondary specialist firm run by former CPP Investments professionals, and LSV Advisors, a New York-based special situations secondary fund manager, partnered on the investment. This transaction will enable Springwater to continue to build out its platform and to take advantage of the current market conditions to provide sophisticated capital solutions to companies with high growth potential whilst also broadening its investor base. 

Mercury Capital Advisors, a leading private fund placement and secondary advisory firm, served as exclusive financial advisor to Springwater on the transaction.

Martin Gruschka, Founding Partner at Springwater, said: “Given the strength of our current pipeline, this transaction enables us to further invest in high quality opportunities whilst simultaneously expanding our LP base. Morningside and LSV are both very successful platforms offering creative and customized solutions and we look forward to continuing to build the relationship.”

“We are excited to support the Springwater team on its most recent investment through a highly creative financing structure,” said Henry Zhang, Founding Partner of Morningside. “With this structure in place, we look forward to expanding our partnership to pursue future investment opportunities.”

Sabina Sammartino, Head of Secondary Advisory at Mercury Capital Advisors, said: “We are delighted to have advised Springwater on this innovative transaction, leveraging the strength of their existing portfolio to raise the additional fresh capital they require to invest in new and exciting opportunities whilst also offering superior risk-adjusted returns to investors. We are increasingly seeing managers get creative in their pursuit of capital and this is a prime example where it works for all parties.”

About Springwater Capital

Springwater is a leading pan-European special situations investment firm headquartered in Switzerland. Established in 2002, Springwater provides sophisticated capital solutions to companies with high growth potential across Europe. For further information, visit www.springwatercapital.ch.

About Mercury Capital Advisors

Mercury is a leading global private fund placement and secondary advisory firm founded in 2009 as a spinoff from the Merrill Lynch Private Equity Funds Group. With offices in New York, London, Dubai, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Singapore, the firm maintains strong relationships with a broad range of institutional investors. Mercury’s secondary advisory practice provides comprehensive solutions to managers and owners of alternative asset portfolios seeking to leverage the secondary market to achieve their objectives. For further information, visit www.mercurycapitaladvisors.com.

About Morningside Capital Management

Morningside is a private equity investment firm based in Toronto, Canada, with an exclusive focus on GP-led secondary solutions.  Morningside manages and advises on over $300 million in assets on behalf of institutional and high net worth clients. For further information, visit www.morningsidemgmt.com/.

About LSV Advisors

LSV is a New York-based special situations secondary fund manager with approximately $1.5 billion in assets and commitments on behalf of institutional and family office clients worldwide.  For further information, visit www.lsvfinancial.com.

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