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Law360 (May 21, 2020, 2:39 PM EDT) -- Apollo Global Management Inc., advised by Paul Weiss, has secured roughly $1.75 billion for a fund that will provide credit solutions to companies struggling in the turbulent economic environment caused by the coronavirus, the private equity giant said Thursday.
The fund, called Apollo Accord Fund III B, brought in $1.75 billion in roughly two months of fundraising, according to a statement. Its purpose is to provide liquidity for companies during times of "broad-based market stress," including the ongoing pandemic, by acquiring secured cross-asset credit risk. Apollo's Accord program was implemented in 2017.
John Zito, deputy chief investment officer of credit and co-head of global corporate credit for Apollo, said in the statement that the firm "has a history of successfully investing during periods of dislocation, and we are pleased with the investor response to our Accord strategy that seeks to purchase mispriced credit risk."
"We saw significant investment opportunities in the first quarter driven by the volatile environment, and we expect volatility to continue as markets respond to the crisis and structural conditions," Zito added.
The Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, or IMCO, contributed $250 million to Apollo Accord Fund III B, representing its first investment with an Apollo-managed fund, it said in a Thursday statement.
"Our participation in this fund demonstrates how nimble our team can be in seeking valuable opportunities for our clients," said Jennifer Hartviksen, managing director of global credit for IMCO.
"This is an example of IMCO adapting to market conditions and exploiting our liquidity very quickly so that clients have access to dislocated opportunities as they arise," she added.
Apollo has been keeping busy during the pandemic, including its purchase Wednesday of $1.75 billion worth of stock in privately owned U.S. grocery giant Albertsons Cos. Inc. Paul Weiss also advised Apollo on that deal, alongside Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
In late April, once again counseled by Paul Weiss, Apollo agreed to inject $300 million into Cimpress, which invests in and operates businesses that specialize in mass customization of products, including signs and merchandise for small and medium-sized businesses. That investment came from Apollo's Hybrid Value division, a PE-style business that invests between the private equity and credit worlds.
Also in April, Apollo participated in a roughly $3.2 billion financing for online travel giant Expedia Inc. In that deal, Apollo and Silver Lake Partners contributed an equity investment of $1.2 billion. Apollo was advised by Paul Weiss and Sidley Austin LLP.
The Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP team representing Apollo on the new fund includes partners Matthew B. Goldstein, Marco V. Masotti and Brian S. Grieve.
--Editing by Marygrace Murphy.
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