Two hedge fund mavens from Sagamore Hill Capital Management and EagleRock Capital Management have teamed up to form Azura Capital Partners, a multi-strategy, event-driven hedge fund that will invest across the capital structure. Peter Lupoff of EagleRock andMark May of Sagamore Hill are planning to start New York City-based Azura with $250 million. A March 1 launch date has been set, according to a source. Four event-driven strategies will be employed. Merger arbitrage, special situations, distressed/stressed and capital structure arbitrage. The fund will invest from equity to bank debt, targeting the best-risk adjusted returns, the source added.
Lupoff, co-portfolio manager of Azura, was previously co-portfolio manager with responsibility for distressed and high-yield at EagleRock. Lupoff started his distressed investment career as a partner at MJ Whitman, where he was eventually a board member. After working on Lehman Brothers' proprietary distressed desk, Lupoff founded Tiburon Holdings, an advisory firm focused on troubled companies, and was also a managing director and portfolio manager at Schultze Asset Management. Lupoff declined comment.
May, co-portfolio manager of Azura, was an original partner of Sagamore in 1999, helping build the Conn.-based hedge fund from $55 million in assets to $2.7 billion by the time he left last summer. Prior to Sagamore, May worked at Paloma Partners Management Co., Santander and Kidder,Peabody. May did not return calls.
Officials at Eagle Rock confirmed Lupoff's departure and said they are in currently in the process of looking for a replacement. They also said Lupoff's departure had been on good terms. Steve Bloom, managing director and managing partner of Sagamore, declined comment.
