Solace Capital, led by industry heavies, closes debut fund above target

Solace Capital Partners, formed by ex-Oaktree, Centerbridge and Carlyle executives, closed its debut fund on $576 million, a person with knowledge of the firm told Buyouts.

Solace Capital Special Situations Fund LP has already deployed about $120 million across five investments, the person said. One of them occurred earlier this year, when Solace and Angeleno Group led a growth investment in Patriot Environmental Services, which provides hazardous-waste management. Terms weren’t disclosed.

When Solace launched Fund I is unclear. The firm had been talking to LPs about the vehicle in 2014, Buyouts reported. The firm was formed in July 2014, according to Solace’s Form ADV. Update: Eaton Partners worked as placement agent on the fundraising.

The firm is charging a 2 percent management fee and 20 percent carried interest rate. It shares 100 percent of advisory, monitoring, directors, transaction, breakup (net of broken-deal expenses) and other fees from a portfolio company with limited partners to offset the management fee, the Form ADV said.

Solace is owned and managed by Christopher Brothers, Vincent Cebula and Brett Wyard. Brothers was a managing director at Oaktree from 1996 to 2006, when he joined Saybrook Capital. He left Saybrook in 2013.

Cebula was an aviation consultant at a Centerbridge portfolio company from 2012 to February 2013, and was a managing director at Jefferies & Co. He was at Oaktree from 1994 to 2007.

Wyard, meanwhile, was a managing director and co-head of Carlyle Strategic Partners from 2005 to 2012, prior to which he was with Oaktree.

Update: This story has been updated with information about the placement agent that worked on the fundraising.

Action Item: Solace’s Form ADV: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Part2Brochures.aspx?ORG_PK=175319

Spectators watch as fireworks explode in the sky as part of celebrations for Victory Day in Moscow on May 9, 2016. Photo courtesy Reuters/Maxim Shemetov