Private equity firms RedBird Capital Partners and Reverence Capital Partners agreed to acquire Vida Capital, a specialist manager of life-settlement investment strategies.
Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, were not disclosed, confirmed Daniel Gagnier, a RedBird Capital spokesman.
Jeffrey R. Serra, Vida Capital's chief executive officer and president, and other senior executives of the firm will invest alongside RedBird Capital and Reverence Capital, a joint news release from the three companies said.
Mr. Gagnier declined to comment on the size of the stake Mr. Serra and his colleagues will hold in Vida Capital. A spokesman from Reverence Capital, who asked not to be named, also to declined comment.
Stephen Kirkwood, Vida Capital's chief compliance officer and general counsel, did not return calls seeking more information.
RedBird Capital and Reverence Capital are acquiring the ownership stake in Vida Capital from Austin Ventures, said a source with knowledge of the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Austin Ventures co-founded Vida Capital with Mr. Serra in 2009, according to Vida's website. Austin Ventures is listed an as indirect owner of the firm holding at least 75% of the firm's equity, according to Vida Capital's most recent ADV filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The venture capital firm committed $66 million to Vida Capital, the firm said in a document obtained by Pensions & Investments.
Austin Ventures could not be reached for comment.
"For 10 years we have enjoyed a great partnership with Austin Ventures who believed in our idea from the very beginning and provided the resources and support to enable us to make this all happen," Vida Capital's Mr. Serra said in the joint news release.
He added that Vida Capital's employees are excited about working with RedBird and Reverence because "both firms have proven to be thoughtful partners who thoroughly understand our business and share our commitment to expanding our platform and investing on the processes that will enable us to deliver market-leading returns."
Vida's new owners are committed to helping the firm expand into new investment strategies that "leverage the firm's underwriting experience in non-correlated duration investment strategies," said Gerald J. Cardinale, RedBird's CEO, chief investment officer and managing partner, in the release.
Vida Capital manages $4.2 billion in life settlement approaches and RedBird manages $1.8 billion in private equity funds, information from each firm showed.
Reverence Capital managed $1.3 billion as of Dec. 31, according to the firm's most recent ADV.
