Adams Street Partners has appointed industry veterans Bill Sacher and Shahab Rashid to establish and build a private credit platform. The pair will lead the firm's credit capabilities from a new Manhattan office.
Adams Street provides investors with access to high-quality private company securities, both directly and indirectly, through a full suite of private equity products across primary, secondary, venture/growth equity and co-investment markets. Sacher and Rashid will formalise the firm's efforts in the private credit space, which will focus on a broad array of opportunities in credit alternatives on a global basis.
Jeff Diehl, Managing Partner at Adams Street, said the move into private credit is a natural evolution of the firm's platform.
"Adams Street has opportunistically invested in private credit by leveraging our private equity relationships and information flow, and we believe we have now found the best team possible to lead a formal practice," says Diehl. "We see substantial opportunity to generate attractive returns for investors while providing valuable capital to our General Partner sponsors, who have seen banks pull back from middle-market lending. Bill and Shahab see the same opportunity, and we are pleased they are joining Adams Street to build our private credit practice. Not only are they proven credit investors with a successful operating history spanning a number of cycles, they are also a great cultural fit for our partnership. We are confident they will build a robust and comprehensive private credit capability at Adams Street."
Sacher has a long history of successful investing, with over 28 years of experience within the leveraged debt markets. Previously, he headed and was the Portfolio Manager of Oaktree Capital Management's mezzanine debt funds, a business he co-founded at the firm in late 2000. Prior to that, Sacher served as the co-head of both the Leveraged Finance Origination Team and the High Yield Capital Markets Group at J.P. Morgan. He has also held leadership roles in the high yield businesses at NationsBank – now part of Bank of America – and Bear Stearns.
"Adams Street is already recognised as a leader within the global private equity industry. As we develop the private credit practice, we plan to build on the firm's pre-existing deep relationships with private equity sponsors and provide the industry with a fully integrated 'one stop' credit solution that fully integrates with Adams Street's current investment capabilities," says Sacher.
Rashid, also joins from Oaktree Capital Management, where he served as Managing Director and deal team head within the Mezzanine Debt Group. Sacher and Rashid worked together for over 10 years. Prior to joining Oaktree, he was a member of the Leveraged Finance Group at Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup, where he focused mainly on executing high yield and leveraged loan transactions for financial sponsors and corporate clients.
"Adams Street's unique platform will enhance our ability to provide financing across the entire private credit spectrum," says Rashid. "Our strategy will offer a full array of credit alternatives, including traditional first lien loans and unitranche facilities to second lien loans, mezzanine debt and preferred equity for private equity-backed middle market buyouts."
