Apollo announces acquisition of Stone Tower Capital

Apollo Global Management has announced that it is buying New York-based credit manager Stone Tower Capital. It says it will merge the business, which has around $17 billion under management with it own New York-based credit unit, taking its capital markets AUM to $39 billion.

Stone Tower currently manages 12 CLOs, with a combined current balance, according to CLO-i, of $6.1 million. It is also a big investor in structured credit through a number of funds and through vehicles such as SIVs on which it has taken on a management role from the original sponsors.

Apollo, although a big player in the debt markets, has only recently become active as a CLO manager. But it has been one of the most prolific CLO originators since the crisis with three new deals launched since 2010. In July it announced the purchase of Gulf Stream Asset Management, taking its tally of CLOs to 13, with a combined balance of $5.1 billion.

GreensLedge Capital advised Stone Tower on the sale, making this the boutique advisor’s biggest M&A deal to date. The price that Apollo is paying for Stone Tower has not been disclosed.