Dai-Ichi Life takes 19.9% stake in credit investor Canyon Partners

Canyon Partners, a $24 billion global alternative investment manager, today announced that Dai-ichi Life Holdings, the largest publicly traded life insurance group in Japan, has agreed to acquire a 19.9% strategic minority stake in the Canyon business.

100% of the net proceeds from the transaction will be retained on Canyon’s balance sheet and reinvested in the business, providing funding to seed new products and optimally scale existing products. In connection with the transaction, Dai-ichi will also be committing at least $1.3 billion of LP capital to several of Canyon’s commingled funds. Canyon’s current management team will continue to lead the company, with Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Josh Friedman and Mitch Julis committing to stay on at Canyon for at least five years.

Mr. Friedman and Mr. Julis said in a joint statement, “After over three decades in a rapidly evolving alternative investment landscape, Canyon was one of the few remaining independent credit firms. It was important to us to maintain that independence until we could identify a strategic partner that could bring skills, capital, and competitive edges of its own to further enhance Canyon’s position for the next several decades. Dai-ichi is an innovative firm with a history of savvy product development and successful investments in and partnerships with Japanese and non-Japanese companies alike. It is also a large institutional asset owner whose capital deployment goals are synergistic with Canyon’s product development initiatives. This transaction will enable us to double down on our alignment with current and future LPs, provide our LPs with a broader array of solutions and deal flow by tapping into Dai-ichi’s capital, increase our competitiveness relative to peers that have long enjoyed the benefits of external GP capital, and continue attracting top tier talent for decades to come. We’re excited to lead the firm through its next stage of evolution over the next five years and set up Canyon’s next generation leaders with an incredibly well-capitalized platform that is on its front foot.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Dai-ichi has the right to acquire up to 51% of the equity interest in Canyon in 2027 and up to 100% in 2029. In the event Dai-ichi were to exercise that right, the Canyon team would retain the vast majority of the incentive fees generated by its products, ensuring significant and ongoing alignment with LPs.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including certain regulatory consents, which are expected to be satisfied over the coming months.

Please follow us to read more about Finance & FinTech in Japan, like hundreds of readers do every day. We invite you to also register for our short weekly digest, the “Japan FinTech Observer”, on Medium or on LinkedIn. Our global Finance & FinTech Podcast, “eXponential Finance” is also available through its own LinkedIn newsletter, or via our Podlink.

Should you live in Tokyo, or just pass through, please also join our Tokyo FinTech Meetup. In any case, our YouTube channel and LinkedIn page are there for you as well.