Lighthouse Investment Partners to acquire Mesirow Advanced Strategies

Lighthouse Investment Partners will acquire rival hedge funds-of-funds manager Mesirow Advanced Strategies in a deal expected to close midyear.

Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed, said Sean McGould, founder, president and co-chief investment officer of Lighthouse, in an interview.

A "significant portion" of the Mesirow team will join Lighthouse and remain in Chicago, Mr. McGould said, stressing that "a key objective is to keep continuity of our investment talent, namely the people we believe are most critical to successful outcomes for our clients."

Lighthouse manages $11 billion and MAS manages $8 billion in hedge funds-of-funds and customized strategies.

Thomas Macina, CEO of Mesirow Advanced Strategies, will remain with the firm through a transition period but will not join Lighthouse, Mr. McGould said. Greg T. Fedorinchik, MAS' president, will not move with the team to Lighthouse.

Neither Messrs. Macina nor Fedorinchik could be reached for information about their plans.

Mr. McGould said the Lighthouse and Mesirow investment teams have known each other for 15 years and noted that "there's a lot of similarity between the teams."

Combining the two teams will be "complementary," with Lighthouse contributing skill in running a managed account platform and more liquid hedge fund strategies and MAS adding expertise in credit ad other less liquid strategies, Mr. McGould said.

"After the integration, we'll be able to offer our clients investment products across the spectrum of hedge fund strategies," Mr. McGould said.

"We believe this (deal) is enhanced by the strong cultural fit of our shared values, including putting client interests first," said Richard Price, chairman and CEO of Mesirow Financial, MAS' parent company, in a joint news release.