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Sun Life Nears Deal to Buy Mark Attanasio’s Crescent Capital

Sun Life Nears Deal to Buy Mark Attanasio’s Crescent Capital

Sun Life Financial Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire Crescent Capital Group, the $28 billion credit manager co-founded by Milwaukee Brewers co-owner Mark Attanasio, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A transaction could be announced as soon as this month, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. It’s possible, as with any deal that hasn’t been finalized, that talks could fall apart.

Sun Life Nears Deal to Buy Mark Attanasio’s Crescent Capital

A representative for Sun Life declined to comment. A spokesman for Crescent didn’t immediately have a comment.

Crescent, based in Los Angeles, invests in bank loans, high-yield bonds and other debt securities. The firm, which also has a presence in New York, Boston and London, has around 180 employees, according to its website.

Sun Life said last year it was looking to boost its private-credit offerings. The Canadian insurer is willing to spend $500 million to $1 billion on firms with operations in North American and Europe that have more than $10 billion in managed assets in mid-market lending, mezzanine financing or other areas of the private credit space, Steve Peacher, president of SLC Management, a unit of Sun Life, told Bloomberg at the time.

Peacher said during Sun Life’s Aug. 7 earnings call that if he could “wave a magic wand” for M&A deals, one area of interest would be the below-investment-grade private-credit space.

The company’s shares have fallen 6.2% this year, less than the 14% decline in the S&P/TSX Composite Financials Sector Index, giving Sun Life a market value of C$32.5 billion.

Crescent was founded in 1991 by Attanasio and Jean-Marc Chapus. In 1995, it was acquired by Trust Company of the West, but the founders and investment team at the time spun out as an independent organization in 2011.

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