Private Advisors expands into secondaries

Private Advisors is moving into private equity secondaries with the acquisition of Cleveland-based Cuyahoga Capital Partners investment advisory business, the firm announced in a statement.

With the acquisition, Private Advisors will take on the responsibility of investing Cuyahoga’s latest secondaries fund, which closed – well above its $125 million target – on $134.8 million last month. Private Advisors typically targets buyout and co-investment opportunities in North America’s lower mid-market, which is where Cuyahoga has been active through its secondary platform.

“Private Advisors chose to add this capability via the acquisition of Cuyahoga’s advisory business, which has a proven track record and a skilled team, in order to minimise the time horizon and distraction necessary to cultivate a secondaries capability,” a firm spokesman said, adding that the Cuyahoga team’s experience and track record would be “additive” to the firm’s core primary fund of funds and co-investment platform.

Cuyahoga Capital Partners founders Bart Shirley and Chris Hanrahan will join Private Advisors, and two Private Advisors partners will join the investment committee on the fund. The investment focus of Cuyahoga’s investment vehicles will remain unchanged, the spokesman said.

Cuyahoga launched as a spin-out of Key Capital Corporation in 2009. The spin-out included Key Capital’s series of funds, known as KCC Investors, in addition to those funds’ entire management team, according to a press release at the time.

Private Advisors was founded in 1997 by Lou Moelchert. The Richmond, Virginia-based firm managed $4.5 billion in assets as of September, according to its website. The firm is an affiliate of New York Life Investment Management Holdings.