Digital wealth management firm Yieldstreet buys Athena Art Finance from Carlyle in $170m deal
A wealth management firm backed by billionaire George Soros has bought art collector lender Athena from Carlyle, the US private equity giant, for $170m (£130m).
The deal is digital wealth management platform Yieldstreet’s first corporate acquisition following its recent $62m Series B funding round, which received backing from Soros Fund Management.
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Athena, which provides loans secured by fine art collections, will continue to be lead by chief executive Cynthia Sachs under its new ownership.
Yieldstreet founder and chief executive Milind Mehere said: “Art financing is an attractive asset class with typically low correlation to the stock market and low loan-to-values, providing what we believe is both an exciting and sound new investment option for our investor community of more than 100,000 members.”
The art financer was founded in 2015 with $280m of capital from Carlyle and the private equity arm of Swiss wealth manager Pictet.
“Carlyle is proud to have played an important role in Athena’s growth and success,” Carlyle managing director Jim Burr said.
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“Yieldstreet has an impressive, innovative model and we are confident they are the right home for the future of Athena’s business.”
Evercore served as the financial advisor to YieldStreet, and Sandler O’Neill was the financial advisor to Athena on the deal.