Abrams switches from Apollo to Cerberus

New York-based investment firm Cerberus Capital Management (Cerberus) has announced the hire of David Abrams from Apollo Management.

Abrams joins Cerberus’ London office as a senior managing director of Cerberus UK Advisors, where he will help to expand the firm’s credit platform, focusing on distressed opportunities in Europe and emerging markets, as well as “other sectors of interest”.

At Apollo, Abrams was the founder and managing partner of the Apollo European Principal Finance Funds franchise, which had €4 billion in assets under management and a focus on acquiring distressed debt, real estate and non-performing loans.

Steve Feinberg, co-founder and chief executive officer of Cerberus, said that Abrams’ “success in developing new businesses and in raising capital will greatly strengthen our ability to connect with our investors and present them with attractive opportunities”.

Prior to Apollo, Abrams was a managing director in the leveraged finance group at Credit Suisse in London and New York. From 2004 to 2007, he founded and was the head of the specialty finance investment business which included investing in non-performing loan portfolios and distressed assets.

Abrams was also a founding member and co-head of the global distressed sales and trading group at Credit Suisse and its predecessor Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, having begun his career in the investment banking division at Bear, Stearns & Co.

Established in 1992, Cerberus has more than $28 billion under management and targets four primary strategies: distressed securities & assets; control and non-control private equity; commercial mid-market lending; and real estate-related investments.