By Chris Witkowsky
Dec 4 (peHUB) - A new firm formed by former distressed debtexecutives from Barclays is preparing to hit the fundraisingtrail in search of about $1 billion, according to two peoplewith knowledge of the situation.
Glendon Capital Management, which formed in April, willlikely launch its debut fund in the first half of 2014, oneperson said. A spokesperson for Glendon declined to comment.
Glendon was formed by Barclays' former head of distresseddebt and special situations investing Matthew Barrett, andformer managing directors Holly Kim and Brian Berman.
The three worked at Barclays from 2006 to 2013,according to regulatory filings by Glendon. Eitan Melamed joinedin 2007 from Goldman Sachs. Barrett, Kim and Berman all joinedBarclays from Oaktree Capital Management.
Barclays spun the team off earlier this year and itcontinues to manage Barclays money. Glendon has about $2.8billion in assets under management, which includes some capitalfrom Barclays as well as other client accounts, according tofilings with the SEC and one of the sources.
Barclays allowed Glendon to raise some capital from externalsources, and those investors are expected to commit to the newfund, one of the people said.
The team has generated an annual rate of return of about 17percent since 2007, according to one source in the market.
Meanwhile, Barclays has been going through big changes sincehiring new chief executive officer Antony Jenkins last year.Jenkins has overseen a program of review of business lines andcuts focused on reducing the size of the bank's balance sheet.
Earlier this year, Reuters reported that as part of Jenkins'review, the bank had axed 3,700 jobs, cut pay for investmentbankers, halted speculative trading in soft commodities andclosed a profitable tax advisory unit.
A Barclays spokesperson declined to comment.