Investment bank Greenhill & Co is to acquire Cogent Partners, a financial advisor to pension funds, endowments and other institutional investors on the secondary market for alternative assets.
Cogent advises such institutions on sales of interests in private equity and similar funds, as well as providing restructuring, financing, valuation and related advisory services. Cogent has advised on transactions involving thousands of limited partnership interests since its founding in 2002, and had revenues of approximately $45.8 million (unaudited) in 2014. The acquisition advances Greenhill's ambition to create the leading independent global financial advisory firm, with capabilities to advise clients on mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, financing and capital raising across industry sectors and in all regions. Following completion of the transaction, the combined firm's advisory activities for institutional investors in relation to the secondary market for alternative assets will operate under the name Greenhill Cogent.
Cogent has its principal office in Dallas, with additional locations in London, New York, San Francisco and Singapore. All eight of Cogent's Managing Directors will become Greenhill Managing Directors, and 38 employees in total (including the Managing Directors) will join Greenhill at closing.
Greenhill and Cogent are highly complementary businesses and were founded on similar business models. Both are focused on delivering independent advice, free of conflicts, and on developing long-term and trusted relationships with clients. Cogent is particularly complementary with Greenhill's Capital Advisory group, which has four Managing Directors and focuses on raising primary capital from pension funds, endowments and other institutional investors for alternative asset managers focused on real estate and related areas. Following completion of the combination, the Cogent team is expected to benefit from access to Greenhill's institutional investor relationships in the real estate sector, its relationships with banks and other financial institutions that own private equity investments, and its strong presence in the important Australian market.
