Providence adds to debt investment team

Providence Equity Partners has hired former Golden Tree Asset Management partner Oliver Wriedt as managing director for the firm’s capital markets group, which invests in the debt of media, communications and information companies.

Wriedt previously served as co-head of marketing and structure products for GoldenTree from 2004 to 2008. Before, he served as managing director at Deutsche Bank in London and New York. During his time at Deutsche Bank, Wriedt worked with Thomas Gahan, who Providence hired in 2008 to form its capital markets group.

The capital markets group invests in the debt of media and communications companies, a sector in which Providence specialises. The firm reportedly raised a $1 billion debt fund in 2008.

Providence has more than $22 billion in equity commitments and has invested in companies such as Warner Music Group and Univision.

At the time of Gahan’s hiring, the firm said it was creating the capital markets group because it had invested significant capital in corporate debt securities, and expected to see future credit market opportunities in its chosen sectors.

Wriedt’s hiring comes a day after movie theater chain AMC announced it has signed a deal to purchase almost all of Chicago-based Kerasotes ShowPlace Theaters from Providence, which is expected to give the firm a 2X return on its initial $75 million investment in 2003. 

At the same time, a consortium that includes Providence is reportedly having difficulty finding a buyer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Newspaper owner Freedom Communications – which the firm purchased a stake in in 2004 – filed for bankruptcy last year.