MatlinPatterson Preps Hedge Fund

New York private equity firm MatlinPatterson Asset Management is preparing its first hedge fund, a global distressed offering that will dovetail off its existing strategy.

New York private equity firm MatlinPatterson Asset Management is preparing its first hedge fund, a global distressed offering that will dovetail off its existing strategy. The fund, MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities, will be managed by Michael Watzky, who has worked with the firm’s principals in various capacities over the past decade. Co-founder Mark Patterson declined to comment.

The hedge fund is due to launch with $500 million on Jan.1 and will have a value bent, according to a document from Goldman Sachs, its prime broker. Watzky’s experience in this field stretches to the mid-1980s, when he was investing from Mexico City. He relocated to Hong Kong in 1997 before returning to New York to work for MatlinPatterson three years later.

With the launch, MatlinPatterson will join an increasingly crowded field of private equity firms that have rolled out hedge funds. This spring, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts launched a fixed-income strategy. Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group launched hedge funds in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

MatlinPatterson was founded by Credit Suisse distressed specialists Patterson and David Matlin and in 2004. MatlinPatterson currently manages nearly $4 billion in two distressed private equity funds. The new fund has 2/20 fees with a one-year hard lockup.