Nuveen bulks up private equity and private credit business with deal for Arcmont

Nuveen is acquiring a controlling interest in Arcmont Asset Management, a European private debt manager with $21 billion in committed capital, which will be coupled with Nuveen’s North American private debt and private equity specialist, Churchill Asset Management.

The deal will expand Nuveen’s North American private capital business to Europe, creating Nuveen Private Capital, one of the world’s largest debt platforms with more than $60 billion in committed capital.

“Arcmont provides Nuveen with a transformational opportunity to significantly expand our position in one of the world’s most dynamic investment markets and strengthen our focus on meeting the increasingly complex capital needs of clients globally,” Jose Minaya, chief executive of Nuveen, the Chicago-based investment manager of TIAA, said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to welcome Arcmont’s professionals, who share with Nuveen deep experience and skills, consistent flexibility and innovative thinking in delivering private capital, as well as a culture of investment excellence rigorously focused on creating long-term value for stakeholders,” he added.

Arcmont was founded in 2011 and has been a pioneer in the European private debt market, providing financing solutions across a wide range of companies, industries and markets.

Since its inception, it has raised more than $26 billion of capital from more than 350 investors and has committed over $20 billion to 270 transactions across Europe. Arcmont has six offices in Europe and approximately 100 employees.

The deal will bring Nuveen’s firmwide alternative credit assets under management to $178 billion. Arcmont and Churchill will form the new entity, Nuveen Private Capital, giving both new geographic scale and the ability to offer more products and financing options to corporate borrowers.

Both firms will continue to be managed by their own respective leadership teams, but will benefit from the resources, expertise and distribution capabilities of Nuveen, according to the announcement Thursday morning.

With more than 240 investment and support professionals, Arcmont and Churchill serve a combined investor base of approximately 600 institutional and family office investors.

“Scale is a significant differentiator in private capital fundraising and deployment, so our complementary capabilities will greatly benefit from a more diversified set of limited partners, enhancing our ability to raise capital and also accelerating our growth across the entire private debt market,” Minaya said.

The controlling interest acquisition includes a minority stake held by Dyal Capital Partners IV.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to Financial Conduct Authority and other regulatory approval. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.