LPs

Siguler Guff names new distressed chief as Gereghty steps down

-
Siguler Guff, Bradley Bennett, James Gereghty, private equity
Photo of Bradley Bennett sourced from Siguler Guff website.
  • Bradley Bennett succeeds James Gereghty
  • Bennett joined Siguler Guff in 2011
  • Gereghty joined in 2010

Bradley Bennett, head of distressed research at Siguler Guff, has taken over the distressed-investing group, the firm confirmed for Buyouts.

Bennett takes over for James Gereghty, who had led the group since 2010. Gereghty left the company in June after his contract expired, according to Jacqueline Battista, vice president in investor relations at Siguler Guff.

Gereghty did not respond to a request for comment.

Bennett joined Siguler Guff in 2011, prior to which he worked on the corporate-credit team at Gleacher & Co for about three years.

Previously, he worked in the bank-loan and high-yield distressed-investing groups at Goldman Sachs, his biography on Siguler Guff’s website says.

Gereghty’s departure does trigger key-man provisions in Funds IV and V, which closed on $1.3 billion in 2011 and $524 million in 2017, respectively.

Generally, LPs can vote to immediately end the investment period on a fund when a key-man provision is tripped, though such situations are usually avoided through negotiations.

Fund IV is out of its investment period, so the key-man trigger is simply a notification, but for Fund V, the firm will be meeting with the limited partner committee, Battista said.

The leadership change will not lead to any changes in strategy for the distressed opportunities funds, she said. The team expects to add both junior and senior members going forward, she said.

Siguler Guff has raised a total of $5.8 billion for its distressed-opportunities strategy.

The firm raised its first distressed fund of funds in 2003, closing the first pool on $595 million. Fund II closed on $988 million in 2006.

Fund III closed on $2.4 billion in 2009. Fund IV closed on $1.3 billion in 2011 and the most recent Fund V closed on $524 million in 2017. 

“The strategy is implemented through a variety of fund structures, separate accounts, joint ventures, secondary transactions, and direct investments/co-investments,” the firm’s website says.

Siguler Guff was formed in 1991 by George Siguler, Drew Guff and Donald Spencer as the private equity team within Paine Webber. The firm became independent in 1995.

Action Item: Check out Siguler Guff’s Form ADV here: https://bit.ly/2NbB2uq