Campbells has advised Abraaj Investment Management Limited (in provisional liquidation) (“AIML”) on its successful sale of the management rights to various Latin America focused private equity funds to Colony Capital Inc. which closed on 17 April 2019. Colony Capital, Inc. is a leading global investment management firm headquartered in Los Angeles with assets under management of $43 billion. The sale follows an extensive sales process following the appointment of provisional liquidators to AIML and its parent company, Abraaj Holdings, in June 2018.
Campbells act as Cayman counsel for Stuart Sybersma of Deloitte & Touche and David Soden of Deloitte LLP, in their capacity as Joint Provisional Liquidators of AIML. The Abraaj Group was widely considered to be the leading private equity firm operating across emerging markets and at one time had assets under management of approximately US$14 billion. AIML acts as the manager to over 40 private equity fund vehicles with over 600 limited partners and continues to operate within provisional liquidation under the control of the JPLs.
Simon Thomas, a Partner in Campbells’ private equity team, commented that “the challenges facing the Abraaj Group are complex and high profile. The successful completion of the Colony transaction ensures an orderly transition of those funds to a new manager in a manner which causes minimal disruption to those Funds and their underlying investments whilst at the same time maximizing recoveries for AIML and its creditors. This transaction helps to restore investor confidence in emerging markets such as Latin America and represents a positive outcome for all stakeholders. As a firm it allows us to demonstrate our expertise in complex high-value private equity transactions of this nature.”
Campbells continue to advise the JPLs of AIML on all aspects of the provisional liquidation. Should you have any queries, please contact our Head of Litigation, Insolvency & Restructuring, Guy Manning.
