ADVERTISEMENT

Kennedy Lewis Sells 20% Equity Stake to Italy’s Azimut Group

Kennedy Lewis Sells 20% Equity Stake to Italy’s Azimut Group

Kennedy Lewis Investment Management LLC, which recently increased the capacity of its newest fund to $2 billion, has sold a minority equity stake to the Azimut Group.

The deal demonstrates Azimut’s commitment to pursue investments in U.S. private markets, the company said in statement Wednesday. “Our goal is for private markets to represent at least 15% of our AUM by the end of 2024, and this deal certainly puts us on the right track,” Azimut Group Chairman Pietro Giuliani said in the statement.

Kennedy Lewis recently doubled to $2 billion the size of its latest fund, which lends money to companies undergoing some form of disruption, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The fund launched late last year.

The Azimut transaction will contribute permanent capital to Kennedy Lewis, an opportunistic private credit investment management firm, according to the statement. The company will use about 90% of the proceeds to increase investments in its own funds.

Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.

Milan-based Azimut made the acquisition through a subsidiary established to invest in U.S.-based alternative asset managers. The company has more than $65 billion in assets under management. The deal represents “a significant milestone and a demonstration of Azimut’s commitment to pursue its objectives in the US private markets industry,” according to the statement.

New York-based Kennedy Lewis, founded in 2017 by David Chene and Darren Richman, has about $2.1 billion in assets under management and committed capital.

Read more: Kennedy Lewis Investment Hires Apollo’s Rakesh Wilson as Partner

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.