London, United Kingdom, 21 July 2022 – Zetland Capital LLP (“Zetland”), a leading pan-European, mid-market investment firm focused on corporate and asset-backed opportunities in distressed debt, special situations and private equity, today announced the successful final closing of Zetland Special Situations Fund II and associated vehicle (“ZSSFII” or the “Fund”) raising over €620M. This fund closing, when combined with Zetland’s existing portfolios and other fund raises, brings Zetland’s total assets under management to over €1.1 billion.
ZSSFII, received significant demand and closed above the Fund’s original target with support from a diverse and global base of existing and new investors, including pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, consultants and family office investors, across North America (~60%), Europe and Middle East (~40%).
Like its predecessor fund, ZSSFII is focused on restructurings, event-driven investments, special situations and trading-oriented opportunities across Europe. The Fund has already made or announced investments in aviation logistics, hotels, leisure and real estate sectors. To date, ZSSFII has successfully invested over 80% of the fund in c.30 opportunities, with a mixture of publicly traded and private market transactions.
Ahmed Hamdani, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Zetland Capital, said: “We are grateful for the trust and confidence investors from around the world have placed in our team and our resilient investment strategy focused on deep-value and downside protection, whilst delivering strong upside returns. Market dislocations have created a once-in-a-decade opportunity, significantly expanding the opportunity set of distressed debt investments. The successful closing of our second flagship special situations fund validates the consistency of our approach and our record of generating strong returns across market cycles. We are pleased to welcome new investors as we continue to strengthen our existing relationships.”
Zetland sources the majority of its investments directly, purchasing debt from lenders and working closely with borrowers, taking an active role over the ownership of its investments, leveraging the firm’s emphasis on operational expertise and employing a strategic, value-add approach, enabled by a focus on regularly acquiring controlling equity interests through credit restructurings.
Current macroeconomic pressures, the end of a decade of easy-monetary policy and the return of inflation, are driving widespread volatility and market dislocation, creating an increase in complex special situations in need of creative financial solutions. Zetland is well-positioned to provide these solutions, with a track-record of delivering across mid-market, asset-backed and corporate, situations.
Mr. Hamdani continues, “To support our approach, we’ve undertaken a substantial talent expansion, doubling in size over the pandemic years, growing our team to 30 individuals since early 2020, with half the team dedicated to sourcing, underwriting and realising our investments. Our ability to deploy over €640M across 28 transactions in 2021 as the world recovered from the pandemic, is a testament to the strength of our team and our ability to identify opportunities others cannot access.”
Zetland Capital, as a firm, achieved carbon-neutrality in 2022 and became a signatory of the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI), recognized as the leading global network of investors committed to integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into their investment decision making. Over 40% of the firm is comprised of people that identify as minority-ethnic and female, including over 50% of its Investment Committee.
