Bain Capital’s Sankaty Seeks $1 Billion For Mezz Fund

Sankaty Advisors, Bain Capital’s credit arm, is seeking to raise $1 billion for Sankaty Middle Market Opportunities Fund II LP. The new fund was disclosed by investor Nashville and Davidson County Employee Benefit Trust Fund, which committed $30 million to the vehicle, identified as a mezzanine fund.

Other known investors in Sankaty Advisors vehicles include the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System, the San Francisco City and County Retirement System and the South Carolina Retirement Systems, according to the Thomson One private equity database.

The new fund is a successor to a mid-market vehicle that raised $900 million in 2010. The firm closed on $3.5 billion last June to pursue a broader strategy in credit opportunities.

Sankaty Advisors also pursues other strategies in the credit market. In 2009, for instance, the firm set up a $161 million fund designed specifically to invest in debtor-in-possession bankruptcy deals, according to Thomson One.

In April, Bain Capital raised $166 million from 23 investors for Sankaty CLO Partners LP, according to a regulatory filing, and it expects to close the fund in the second half of this year in the range of $250 million to $300 million, a person with knowledge of the plan said at the time.

Sankaty did not respond by deadline to a request for comment on the latest fund.

CLARIFICATION: This article has been clarified since its original publication on June 11 to distinguish the mid-market funds from Sankaty’s broader credit opportunities strategy.