(Bloomberg) — Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is exploring the sale of its minority stake in private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Jefferies bought a 10% to 15% stake in Oak Hill Capital in 2019, when the firm planned to make it the anchor investment in a fund managed by Stonyrock Partners. Stonyrock planned to raise as much as $1 billion to buy stakes in private equity, real estate, infrastructure and other asset classes.
Jefferies has since wound down the fund, dubbed Stonyrock Alt Fund I LP, Reuters reported earlier this year. The New York-based firm has sought interest in the Oak Hill Capital stake from potential buyers, one of the people said, requesting anonymity because the talks are private.
A Jefferies spokesman declined to comment. An Oak Hill Capital spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oak Hill Capital traces its roots to Texas billionaire Robert M. Bass’s family office, and is led by managing partners Tyler Wolfram, Brian Cherry and Steve Puccinelli, its website shows. The firm has had more than $19 billion in capital commitments since its inception, it said last month. The portfolio includes Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, American Veterinary Group and fiber-optic provider MetroNet.
Stakes in asset managers, known as GP stakes, have proliferated as a business on Wall Street as a means for firm founders and executives to obtain liquidity. Investors in the sector value firms at a multiple of management fees, which are predictable, and potential carried interest.
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