OREANDA-NEWS. July 08, 2015. Graham Goldsmith and Stone Point Capital announced today the formation of Cross Ocean Partners, an asset management platform that will focus on stressed and distressed credit investment opportunities. Goldsmith, the former Head of Global Credit and Special Situations at Bank of America Merrill Lynch ("BAML"), will be the company's Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer. Funds managed by Stone Point together with Goldsmith and other members of management have committed \\$240 million to Cross Ocean.

Concurrent with its launch, Cross Ocean is pleased to announce its acquisition of the European Special Situations business ("ESS") from Capula Investment Management. ESS, which raised more than \\$1.5 billion for its initial funds in 2013, is led by Steve Zander, who previously worked with Goldsmith at BAML for seven years as Co-Head of the Global Loan and Special Situations Group and, more recently, was the Chief Investment Officer of Hayfin Capital Management. Zander will be Cross Ocean's Co-Chief Investment Officer and will oversee the company's European business.

Cross Ocean will have a global mandate and will focus on credit investments in a broad range of asset classes, including corporate loans and bonds, hard assets, commercial real estate, liquidations and structured credit. Through its acquisition of ESS, Cross Ocean immediately gains a talented team with strong continuity and an impressive track record in stressed and distressed European corporate credit, which will be the company's initial area of focus. Cross Ocean will be the investment adviser to ESS's initial funds going forward. The company will be based in Greenwich, Connecticut and London, England.

"I am thrilled to partner with Stone Point to launch Cross Ocean and feel fortunate to be back in partnership with Steve Zander and his outstanding team," said Graham Goldsmith. "Stone Point's expertise in asset management and its track record of backing and helping build highly successful platforms make it an ideal partner for us."

"I am excited to join Graham in the build-out of Cross Ocean," said Steve Zander. "When my colleagues and I were evaluating the best fit for the ESS platform, we quickly realized that the opportunity to join forces with Graham and Stone Point made Cross Ocean an ideal partner. I would like to thank Capula for its support and development of the ESS business and its help in facilitating this transition."

Chuck Davis, CEO of Stone Point, said, "We are delighted to partner with highly talented, proven investors like Graham Goldsmith, Steve Zander and the rest of the ESS team. We believe their strategy, networks, experience and acumen, together with the full backing and support of Stone Point's platform, position Cross Ocean to successfully build a differentiated approach to investing across the global credit markets."

Barclays acted as financial advisor to Capula Investment Management on the sale of ESS.

About Cross Ocean Partners
Cross Ocean Partners is a credit-focused asset management platform investing globally in stressed and distressed investment opportunities in a broad range of asset classes, including corporate loans and bonds, hard assets, commercial real estate, liquidations and structured credit. Cross Ocean is based in Greenwich, Connecticut and London, England. The company was formed as a partnership between the Cross Ocean management team and Stone Point Capital, a leading financial services-focused private equity firm. 

For further information about Cross Ocean Partners, contact Mark Berry at mb@crossoceanpartners.com or +44 (207) 653 6204.

About Stone Point Capital LLC
Stone Point Capital is a financial services-focused private equity firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut. The firm has raised and managed six private equity funds -- the Trident Funds -- with aggregate committed capital of approximately \\$13 billion. In addition to the capital invested by the Trident Funds, Stone Point has secured approximately \\$7 billion of equity co-investments since 2001. Stone Point targets investments in the global financial services industry, including investments in companies that provide outsourced services to financial institutions, banks, specialty lending and other credit opportunities, asset management firms, insurance and reinsurance companies, insurance distribution and other insurance-related businesses, mortgage services companies and employee benefits and healthcare companies. 

For further information about Stone Point, see www.stonepoint.com.