Mike Donatelli, formerly a merger arbitrage portfolio manager at Soros Fund Management, is readying a new fund at his firm EAC Management. The fund will follow a merger arbitrage strategy with a small component dedicated to high-yield investing. Its mandate also allows for distressed investing.
EAC was formed in 2003 and manages $300 million in a managed account for one investor and is now taking in additional capital for the first time, said Donatelli, declining to name the investor. EAC is seeking to raise $200 million for an August launch and then close the fund, which follows the same strategy as the managed account, he added.
The firm is out raising capital now because its agreement with the large anchor investor precluded it from taking in outside capital prior to 2005. The fund, which will carry a $5 million investment minimum, is being pitched to funds of funds and institutions.
Donatelli worked for George Soros' firm from 1999 until 2003 when he formed New York-based EAC. Prior to Soros, he was a merger arbitrage portfolio manager at SAC Capital Advisors and a proprietary trader in the risk arbitrage group at UBS.
EAC consists of Donatelli and a team, which has stayed together throughout moves from firm-to-firm. "It was always our goal to have our own fund," he said.