Man Group, the global alternative investment management firm, has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Bardin Hill, a U.S.-based private credit manager with approximately US$3 billion in assets under management.
Headquartered in New York City, Bardin Hill is an opportunistic and high-yield credit manager. Its opportunistic credit platform focuses on investments in special situations and distressed companies, as well as sponsorless direct lending in the United States. Its high-yield credit platform focuses on large-scale syndicated loan CLOs.
Led by a senior team with deep experience and an average industry tenure of 22 years, Bardin Hill has strong expertise in managing credit strategies and serves a sophisticated global client base that includes pension funds, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and consultants.
Jason Dillow, CEO of Bardin Hill, will remain at the helm of Bardin Hill’s business with the support of his nine partners, including executive committee members Philip Raciti and Jacob Fishelis. Bardin Hill’s investment committee, investment team, and investment processes will remain intact, while Man Group’s global distribution capabilities will enhance the firm’s access to new investors.
The acquisition further strengthens Man Group’s global credit platform, which currently has nearly US$40 billion in assets under management; more than 10 specialized investment teams; and over 100 credit professionals, by adding opportunistic and high-yield credit strategies designed to consistently deliver risk-adjusted returns.
Bardin Hill’s investment capabilities will complement Man Group’s existing private credit offering, which includes direct lending, credit risk sharing, and residential real estate lending strategies. The acquisition also further expands the firm’s presence in the United States, in line with the company’s strategic priority to grow its footprint in North America.
Steven Desmyter, president of Man Group, stated that this acquisition “adds new and important capabilities to our growing credit platform, further broadening and diversifying our offering to clients, in line with the strategy we laid out last year. Following the acquisition of Varagon in 2023, we are excited to be able to offer our clients another high-quality, specialist team with strong credentials, a rigorous and selective investment process, and experience across market cycles. We see real growth potential in both opportunistic and high-yield credit and look forward to working with Jason and his team to capture it.”
For his part, Jason Dillow, CEO of Bardin Hill, said they are “very excited to join Man Group as part of its rapidly growing U.S. private credit platform. Man Group’s broad distribution network, sophisticated institutional platform, and leading-edge technology will help us strengthen our opportunistic and return-driven credit strategies for Bardin Hill’s current investors while also offering new investors access to Bardin Hill products. Given the persistence of volatility and dislocation in credit markets, we believe there is a significant opportunity to leverage our combined strengths to deploy capital and deliver attractive returns to clients.”
