PineBridge Investments Plans $480 Million CLO in First Since AIG Spinoff

PineBridge Investments is in the market with a collateralized loan obligation targeted at about $480 million, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

It is the first CLO from the manager since it completed its separation from American International Group Inc. in March. PineBridge will manage the fund that is being created from a group of loans held by a separate investor, said the people, who declined to be identified because the terms are private.

The market for CLOs is beginning to open with $2.6 billion of deals backed by widely syndicated loans completed this year. The market had $91.1 billion of issuance at its peak in 2007, according to Morgan Stanley data. GSO Capital Partners LP, the credit investment arm of Blackstone Group LP, Oak Hill Advisors LP and WCAS Fraser Sullivan Investment Management LLC are all in the market raising funds.

CLOs are a type of collateralized debt obligation that pool high-yield, high-risk loans and slice them into securities of varying risk and return.

The fund, Plymouth Rock CLO, is split between a $298 million piece rated AAA by Standard & Poor’s and a $92 million slice graded BBB+, according to an S&P report that didn’t name the manager or purpose of the deal. The CLO also includes a $90.36 million piece of preferred shares. It may price as early as this week, one of the people said. Bank of America Corp. is arranging the sale.

The private investment firm Pacific Century Group purchased PineBridge from AIG. New York-based PineBridge has $83 billion in assets under management, which includes $5.5 billion in leveraged loans, as of Sept. 30, according to its website.

Astrid Egerton-Vernon, a spokeswoman for PineBridge, and Danielle Robinson, a Bank of America spokeswoman, declined to comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristen Haunss in New York at khaunss@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Faris Khan at fkhan33@bloomberg.net