Newton Glassman

Last updated

Newton Glassman is the founder and managing partner of Catalyst Capital Group, the second largest private equity firm in Canada. [1] He was also the CEO of Callidus Capital Corp., an alternative lending company that traded publicly before being taken private in 2019, which he led until he stepped down in 2018 citing medical issues. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Glassman is the son of a surgeon. [4] While in college, he successfully sued his father to force child support payments, based on Ontario court records. [5] He received an undergraduate and law degree at the University of Toronto. He then attended business school at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated with an MBA in 1990. [6]

Career

After graduating he joined Canadian Corporate Funding Ltd., then one of Canada's leading private equity firms. [6] He later joined Cerberus Capital Management [6] in 1997, becoming a managing director at the firm and overseeing the fund’s telecommunications portfolio and Canadian investments. While working at Cerberus, he also developed a distinctive approach to lending to financially distressed companies. [4]

Catalyst Capital Group

In 2002 Glassman founded Catalyst Capital Group along with Gabriel de Alba. [6] The firm specializes in purchasing distressed assets and corporate restructurings. [6]

Catalyst has been involved in deals involving Gateway Casinos, Canwest and Mobilicity. [1] It earned "a huge return" on the 2009 restructuring of CanWest Global Communications, and Stelco, [1] which faced bankruptcy in 2007.

By 2014, the firm was Canada's second largest private equity firm. [1] In a 2014 puff piece published by the Globe and Mail , Glassman was quoted thus: "You have to be unaffected by conflict to be decent at distressed because it's a highly adversarial process. You have to have extraordinary commitment to your view, both ethically and professionally, because you are dealing with desperate people and desperate people try desperate things. You have to have a commitment to your sense of what is right and wrong. And you can't waver from it." [1]

In 2020, Glassman had a significant win in a deal over the Hudson's Bay Company. After accumulating shares in the company and gaining a 17.5 percent stake in the company, Catalyst posted an 8.8 percent return in its investment in Hudson's Bay for its shareholders. [7]

Catalyst buys Callidus

Alternative lender Callidus Capital Corp. was founded by Sam Fleiser in 2004. In 2007, Catalyst bought a controlling share in Callidus; Catalyst owns almost 60% of Callidus and is a main source of funding for Callidus as well. [8]

In 2011, Glassman took over Callidus with the goal of making the company public and increasing its loan books. [4] In April 2014, Catalyst took Callidus public at C$14 a share. [9] By 2019, Callidus had posted 10 consecutive quarters of net losses in what was described as a company “meltdown”. [10] Analysts have said legal chill is one likely reason buyers were reluctant to come forward. [11] In October 2019, Braslyn Ltd spent 75 cents a share, [7] [12] 95 per cent below the company’s initial offer price in 2014, [13] and in the transaction bought "the minority shares not owned by Catalyst". [7]

Philanthropy

Glassman donated $2.5 million to the University of Western Ontario's faculty of law as part of a $10 million plan to fund programs on insolvency and restructuring. [14]

The neonatal intensive care unit of Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has borne Glassman's name since 2014. [1]

Personal life

Glassman works in Toronto, has a Lake House in Muskoka and a retreat in the Bahamas. [15] In 2022, Newton and his wife separated.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leveraged buyout</span> Acquired control over a company by the purchase of its shares with borrowed money

A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money (leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loans, along with the assets of the acquiring company. The use of debt, which normally has a lower cost of capital than equity, serves to reduce the overall cost of financing the acquisition.

The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and private credit. It is one of the largest mega-funds in the world. In 2015, Carlyle was the world's largest private equity firm by capital raised over the previous five years, according to the PEI 300 index. In the 2023 ranking however, it had slipped to fifth place.

In the field of finance, private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public. Private equity is offered instead to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage, "private equity" can refer to these investment firms rather than the companies that they invest in.

Debt restructuring is a process that allows a private or public company or a sovereign entity facing cash flow problems and financial distress to reduce and renegotiate its delinquent debts to improve or restore liquidity so that it can continue its operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brookfield Corporation</span> Canadian asset management company

Brookfield Corporation is a Canadian multinational company that is one of the world's largest alternative investment management companies, with over US$725 billion of assets under management in 2022. It focuses on direct control investments in real estate, renewable power, infrastructure, credit and private equity. The company invests in distressed securities through Oaktree Capital, which it bought in 2019. Brookfield's headquarters are in Toronto. It also has corporate offices in New York City, London, São Paulo, Mumbai, Shanghai, Dubai, and Sydney.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, and reference works. The company is based in the Boston Financial District. It was formerly known as Houghton Mifflin Company, but it changed its name following the 2007 acquisition of Harcourt Publishing. Prior to March 2010, it was a subsidiary of Education Media and Publishing Group Limited, an Irish-owned holding company registered in the Cayman Islands and formerly known as Riverdeep. In 2022, it was acquired by Veritas Capital, a New York-based private-equity firm.

Distressed securities are securities over companies or government entities that are experiencing financial or operational distress, default, or are under bankruptcy. As far as debt securities, this is called distressed debt. Purchasing or holding such distressed-debt creates significant risk due to the possibility that bankruptcy may render such securities worthless.

Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, crypto, tech opportunities, partnership opportunities, special situations, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry sectors and geographic regions. As of 2022, the firm managed approximately $165 billion of investor capital. The firm was founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company. The company is headquartered at 200 Clarendon Street in Boston with 22 offices in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oaktree Capital Management</span> American global asset management firm

Oaktree Capital Management is an American global asset management firm specializing in alternative investment strategies. As of March 31, 2022, the company managed $164 billion for its clientele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apollo Global Management</span> American private equity company

Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American private equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of 2022, the company had $548 billion of assets under management, including $392 billion invested in credit, including mezzanine capital, hedge funds, non-performing loans, and collateralized loan obligations, $99 billion invested in private equity, and $46.2 billion invested in real assets, which includes real estate and infrastructure. The company invests money on behalf of pension funds, financial endowments, and sovereign wealth funds, as well as other institutional and individual investors. Funds managed by Apollo have produced a 24% internal rate of return (IRR) to investors, net of fees.

Schulte Roth & Zabel, LLP is a full service law firm with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., and London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canaccord Genuity</span> Canadian financial company

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is a global, full-service investment banking and financial services company that specializes in wealth management and brokerage in capital markets. It is the largest independent investment dealer in Canada. The firm focuses on growth companies, with operations in 10 countries worldwide and the ability to list companies on 10 stock exchanges. Canaccord Genuity, the international capital markets division, is based in Canada, with offices in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Dubai, Australia, and Barbados.

Blackstone Credit, formerly known as GSO Capital Partners (GSO) is an American hedge fund and the credit investment arm of The Blackstone Group. Blackstone Credit is one of the largest credit-oriented alternative asset managers in the world and a major participant in the leveraged finance marketplace. The firm invests across a variety of credit oriented strategies and products including collateralized loan obligation vehicles investing in secured loans, hedge funds focused on special situations investments, mezzanine debt funds and private equity funds focused on rescue financing.

Education Media and Publishing Group, more commonly known as EMPG, is a holding company registered in the Cayman Islands with no operating subsidiaries. It also has a minority interest in an affiliate that focuses on markets outside the US called EMPGI. It was the effective successor to the Ireland-based Riverdeep company. It collapsed during the post-2008 Irish economic downturn following the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Prior to March 2010, EMPG owned the legacy Riverdeep and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt businesses, which it acquired in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Shaw Media was the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. It owned the Global Television Network, which broadcasts nationally via 13 television stations, as well as 19 specialty channels including Slice, HGTV Canada, Showcase, Food Network Canada, and History. Shaw Media consisted of the broadcasting assets of the former Canwest. Shaw Media properties were acquired in April 2016 by sister company Corus Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highbridge Capital Management</span> Alternative investment management firm

Highbridge Capital Management, LLC is a multi-strategy alternative investment management firm founded by Glenn Dubin and Henry Swieca in 1992. In 2004, it was purchased by JPMorgan Chase; as of 2019, it had about $3.9 billion in assets under management, out of $150 billion in JPMorgan's global alternatives division.

Cordiant Capital is a multinational investment management firm based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1999, the firm has also has offices in London, São Paulo and Luxembourg. Since 2015, the firm's various investment funds have focused on energy infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CI Financial</span> Largest investment management firm by assets under management in Canada

CI Financial is the largest investment management firm by assets under management in Canada. Based in Toronto, Ontario, it offers investment management and wealth management services targeted to high net worth retail investors, as well as brokerage and trading services to portfolio managers and institutional investors. It is considered one of the Big Three investment management companies in Canada, along with Mackenzie Investments and Fiera Capital.

Psy-Group is a former Israeli private intelligence agency. It closed after revelations that it was under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Catalyst Capital Group was in 2014 esteemed the second largest private equity firm in Canada. It was founded in 2002 by Newton Glassman, who was in 2014 its managing partner, and Gabriel de Alba.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tedesco, Theresa (September 27, 2014). "Irascible Newton Glassman's coming of age is all part of the plan". Financial Post. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  2. "Callidus Shareholder to Take Company Private as Debt Mounts". Bloomberg. 16 August 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  3. "Callidus Capital's Newton Glassman takes medical leave from CEO post". The Globe and Mail. 13 August 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Newton Glassman's Legacy of Ashes". The Foundation for Financial Journalism. April 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  5. "A private equity star's picks shine ... until cash-out time". Reuters. 23 March 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Newton Glassman, a private man in the stressful world of private equity". The Globe and Mail. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  7. 1 2 3 "Newton Glassman's Gateway Casino deal offers little windfall for Catalyst Capital". Financial Post. January 16, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  8. Dummett, Ben. "Feud Between Canadian Fund Managers Escalates With Call for Public Debate". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  9. "Distressed Lender Callidus Reports Second Consecutive Annual Loss". Institutional Investor. 2 April 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  10. "Why Ira Gluskin has a beef with Newton Glassman". The Globe and Mail. 5 August 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  11. "Callidus Capital's Newton Glassman takes medical leave from CEO post". The Globe and Mail. 13 August 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  12. "In Newton Glassman's tangled web of lawsuits, the truth is even stranger than fiction". The Globe and Mail. October 30, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  13. "Callidus Capital shareholder reaches deal to take company private as debt mounts". Financial Post. 16 August 2019.
  14. "Newton Glassman sets out to reform Canadian insolvency law, one law student at a time". Financial Post. Retrieved 2015-11-18.
  15. "Newton Glassman, broken promises and the inglorious exit of Callidus". Globe and Mail. 17 August 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2020.