Private equity firm Monarch Alternative Capital LP, advised by Willkie, said Tuesday that it has closed its latest fund after securing about $3 billion from limited partners, with plans to target distressed opportunities brought about by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The fund, billed as Monarch Capital Partners V, was oversubscribed and has been investing since it held a first close in May, according to a statement. The fund was launched in early 2020, prior to the U.S. outbreak. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the fund turned its attention completely towards opportunities that arose because of the economic disruption caused by the pandemic.
“COVID-19 created clear disruption across the global economy, which has translated into an unprecedented amount of opportunities in our space,” said Michael Weinstock, CEO of Monarch. “While we don’t know how this all ends, the ongoing uncertainty around the new ‘normal’ will keep us quite busy for a long time.”
Monarch focuses on investing in five core areas: corporate credit, structured credit, real estate, government debt and special situations. According to the firm, middle market corporate credit investments are where much of the action is right now, with those opportunities having opened up because of the forced shutdowns in many major cities that led to struggles for many businesses. Monarch sees itself as a capital provider that can help companies avoid insolvency.
As of Oct. 31, the firm had already deployed $1.1 billion of the roughly $3 billion total across 38 different investments. In total, Monarch has invested more than $3.5 billion into the distressed asset class in 2020, which represents the most capital the firm has deployed in a single year since 2008. The firm, which has offices in New York and London, was founded in 2002.
Willkie has been a longtime adviser for Monarch, having advised on its previous funds, including Monarch Capital Partners IV, which closed in 2017 after raising $1.25 billion from investors, according to a statement from the law firm.
The Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP team advising Monarch on the new fund was led by fund formation partners Lior Ohayon and John Knapke, and included tax partner Hillel Jacobson; executive compensation and employee benefits partner Peter Haller; fund formation associate Matthew Pei; and tax associate Caitlin Link.
Source: Law 360
