The Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America has acquired a minority stake in credit manager HPS Investment Partners.
Terms of the deal and amount of the stake were not disclosed in a joint news release Wednesday. A spokeswoman declined to comment.
The transaction is described in the news release as a strategic partnership that will diversify Guardian Life's investment portfolio. Guardian Life will also "provide HPS with a strategically important amount of capital to invest and manage across a range of private credit strategies," the news release said.
As of Dec. 31, HPS Investment Partners had about $80 billion in assets under management. Of that total, about $56 billion was managed in private credit strategies and $24 billion in public credit strategies, according to HPS' website.
In the release, HPS Investment Partners CEO Scott Kapnick said the partnership with Guardian Life will "expand the depth and breadth of the investment solutions we provide to Guardian and its policyholders."
He also noted, "We are also grateful to Dyal Capital Partners for their steadfast partnership and support in welcoming Guardian to the investor group."
In 2021, Dyal Capital Partners, which acquired its own minority stake in HPS Investment Partners in 2018, merged with Owl Rock Capital Group and special purpose acquisition company Altimar Acquisition Corp. to form publicly traded alternative investment firm Blue Owl Capital. Altimar was sponsored by HPS Investment Partners.
Michael Rees, co-founder and co-president of Blue Owl, said in an emailed statement: "Dyal Capital Partners IV still owns the vast majority of its stake in HPS. We are excited for a long-term partnership with HPS and Guardian and look forward to all of us working together to create value."
Mr. Kapnick formed HPS Investment Partners in 2007 as a unit of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Originally known as Highbridge Principal Strategies, the firm was purchased by its principals from J.P. Morgan in 2016.
