Neuberger Berman has agreed to acquire Orchard Square Partners, a global long-short credit hedge fund with about $475 million in assets, said Joseph Amato, president and chief investment officer of Neuberger Berman.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close on Dec. 31.
Orchard Square Partners is currently 50% owned by Ramius, the global investment management business of Cowen Group, and 50% employee-owned. Through this deal, Neuberger Berman will become 100% owner of the fund.
A little more than half of the fund’s clients are institutional.
Orchard Square Partners is overseen by Norman Milner, Rick Dowdle, Darren Carter and Itai Baron. They will join Neuberger Berman along with the rest of the staff, which consists of seven additional members.
Messrs. Milner and Dowdle will be named portfolio managers, and all four senior investment executives will be managing directors at Neuberger Berman.
Although the 11-person team will become Neuberger Berman employees, the private fund will remain branded Orchard Square Partners and the team will continue to manage the fund the way they’ve been running it.
“The investment team will be fully absorbed within Neuberger Berman but will continue to have the same degree of autonomy as our other investment teams,” Mr. Amato said.
Mr. Amato added that Neuberger Berman is not planning any reduction in staff.
