Cordillera looks to generate compelling returns with niche strategy; ICGSE: what makes a good SACV deal

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Cordillera looks to generate compelling returns with niche strategy; ICGSE: what makes a good SACV deal

Happy hump day, PE Hubsters! Rafael Canton here with the US edition of the Wire from the New York newsroom.

To kick off the Wire, let’s start with Cordillera Investment Partners’ Ashley Marks, a co-founder and co-managing partner, who talks about the firm’s strategy of investing in niche assets as a part of PE Hub’s ongoing thought leader Q&As.

Next, we have a look at continuation funds and what makes a deal successful in a conversation with Rob Campbell, head of North America at ICGSE.

After that, we’ll take a look at Moody’s Ratings' 2025 Data Center Outlook. The report notes that 2025 will continue to see strong demand for data centers. PE Hub has been following along with the data center trend in 2024.

Finally, we’ve also got a recap of yesterday's dramatic lawsuits filed by the DOJ and KKR.

Pursuing niche alternatives

Let’s get weird. PE Hub's ongoing series of thought leader Q&As continues today with Ashley Marks, a co-founder and co-managing partner of Cordillera Investment Partners, a San-Francisco based private equity firm that invests in niche assets.

Cordillera looks for niche investing opportunities, such as boat marinas, triathlon leagues, whiskey aging, agriculture lending and carbon credits. PE Hub editor-in-chief MK Flynn asked Marks about what’s driving demand in the niche alternatives space and more.

Subscribe to the premium version to learn what’s driving the demand for niche alternatives.

Looking for high quality assets

Affiliate title Private Equity International recently interviewed Rob Campbell, head of North America at ICGSE about continuation funds and what makes a deal in the continuation space successful. Campbell will make an appearance at PEI Group’s NEXUS 2025 conference in Orlando from March 10-12. He’ll be speaking on day two of the event about the future of GP-led secondaries alongside Mark Boyagi from Kirkland & Ellis, Christophe Browne from Lexington Partners and Jon Madorsky from RCP Advisors.

Premium subscribers can learn more about Campbell’s thoughts on single asset continuation vehicles.

Campbell will be a featured speaker at PEI’s NEXUS 2025 conference in March which will feature an extensive line-up of GPs, LPs and content.

For more related NEXUS 2025 content on PE Hub, see:

Data center demand continues

As demand for data centers continues to grow, there will be a need for capital to meet it. That’s where private equity firms can make an impact. Demand for data center capacity to support artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and data storage services will intensify this year according to Moody’s Ratings' 2025 Data Center Outlook.

In December, I highlighted private equity’s interest in data centers which was driven mainly by the amount of power consumption tied to AI and cloud computing.

Subscribe to the premium version to gain access to our coverage of the report.

Serial violations or agency overreach?

The private equity industry’s contentious relationship with antitrust regulators in the current administration came to a dramatic head yesterdayas the Justice Department filed a suit against KKR for “serial violations of federal premerger review law,” and KKR filed its own suit against the agency, arguing: “Now, on the eve of a leadership transition, the Antitrust Division has threatened a final act of agency overreach.”

PE Hub will be following developments closely and will share updates with our readers.

Read the premium version to learn more about the news, including a statement from KKR.

Read the full Wire commentary on PE Hub ...

Also of note (may require subscriptions)

Revelstoke Capital Partners is raising a fourth mid-market healthcare fund as investing in the sector appears set to build on last year’s rebound. The Denver manager is targeting $1.75 billion for Revelstoke Capital Partners Fund IV, according to Arkansas Teacher Retirement System documents. (Buyouts)

Partners Group has joined forces with BlackRock to bring a new evergreen offering to high-net-worth individuals, which it’s hoping to launch this year. (Private Equity International)

Cautious optimism for fundraising in 2025: Facing limited options, GPs are turning to SPACs and continuation vehicles, while some believe a revival of the IPO market, currently favoring only top-tier assets, could reignite activity. (Buyouts)

Ares has held a final close of its latest European direct lending fund with €17.1 billion of commitments. The fund, Ares Capital Europe VI, closed above its €15 billion target and, with related vehicles and leverage, is expected to have total investable capital of approximately €30 billion. (Private Debt Investor)

Steve Bruere, president of Peoples Company, sat down with Agri Investor to discuss how the firm’s work with institutional investors has evolved, why he has declined offers from GPs to collaborate on a private fund vehicle, and what the future may hold for the farmland market.

In a sign of the increasing importance of asset-based credit, Ares Management promoted Kevin Alexander to co-head of alternative credit (which houses ABC, the manager’s fastest-growing strategy) alongside current co-heads Joel Holsinger and Keith Ashton. (Private Debt Investor)

Oxford Properties, the real estate investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, is selling 50 percent of a European logistics portfolio managed by M7 Real Estate, the London-based manager it acquired in 2021, to superannuation fund AustralianSuper. (Private Equity Real Estate)

The new year may bring distress from the consumer sector, ultimately culminating in a direct lending default rate of 3 percent, or 72 total defaults, according to a report by KBRA Direct Lending Deals, the ratings agency’s direct lending analysis arm. Consumer-related company defaults would account for roughly 20 percent of that total. (Private Debt Investor)

There has been a recent trend in secondaries of high-ranking individuals spinning out of their firms to launch their own shops. Recent years have seen professionals spin-out from big names such as Coller Capital, Morgan Stanley and Apollo Global Management to name a few. Secondaries Investor looks at some notable new firms that have launched in the past 12 months.

Deals

They said it

“We believe that by going back to the basics of alternative investing; finding non-correlated, niche opportunities that have not yet been broadly discovered by institutional investors; it is still possible to deliver on the original promise of alternatives – generating compelling returns and diversification.”

— Ashley Marks, managing director, Cordillera Investment Partners

Today's letter was prepared by Rafael Canton

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