Friedberg Milstein, a New York-based institutional asset manager, has hired Eric Green, a board member and partner at J.P. Morgan Partners' loan asset management firm Octagon Credit Investors, according to Corporate Financing Week, an LMW sister publication. He will be a senior partner running its structured finance business and there are plans to launch a new $450 to $500 million middle-market mezzanine fund.
Octagon manages a series of CDO funds totaling $1.75 billion, which could be divested by J.P. Morgan Partners (LMW, 8/31). Green confirmed his move to Friedberg Milstein, but declined to comment regarding Octagon. J.P. Morgan officials did not return calls for comment. Green was with J.P. Morgan Partners for six years and was responsible for mezzanine investing as well as overseeing the development of Octagon's CDO funds.
Friedberg Milstein is looking to launch its mezzanine fund early next year. The idea of the new fund is to capitalize on the public middle-market's growing trend of going private, Friedberg explained. "We think the demand for this kind of financing exceeds the supply and we expect the next several years to be a very large opportunity for small to mid-cap leveraged buyouts," he said. The firm intends to make two more senior hires in the New Year.