In its latest Investment Management Industry Review, Berkshire Capital covered the M&A transactions leading up to CIFC Deerfield Corp.'s formation. Here is the excerpt:

Commercial Industrial Finance Corp. added scale to its portfolio of CLOs with the purchase of CypressTree Investment Management, which manages or subadvises $2.8 billion in high-yield and leveraged loan assets. CIFC had $3.6 billion in CLO assets prior to the deal. CypressTree was acquired in 2009 by credit asset manager Primus Guaranty, but in making the divestiture Primus said "CLO management is no longer a core business." An additional credit deal of note involved Deerfield Capital Corp.'s acquisition of Columbus Nova Credit Investment Management, which manages $1.8 billion in CLO assets. Deerfield paid $25 million plus an additional $7.5 million over five years for Columbus, owned by New York asset manager Renova U.S. Management.

Prior to the transaction, Chicago-based Deerfield managed $4 billion in CLO assets and $9 billion overall. As part of the deal, a Renova investment vehicle agreed to purchase $25 million worth of Deerfield's convertible notes, the proceeds from which will be used to help retire $74 million in debt. In addition to enhancing its AUM and revenue growth, Deerfield said the deal allows it to strengthen its balance sheet and add "a valuable partner in Columbus Nova." Nine months later in December, Deerfield announced a merger with Commercial Industrial Finance Corp. The combined firm will have $15.6 billion in AUM, primarily in CLOs, making it one of the world's largest structured credit and leveraged finance asset managers.

Link to the full report.