According to Bloomberg TV, – Hedge fund manager Jason Mudrick told Bloomberg Television on Feb. 3 that the low oil prices presented “the most exciting” opportunity since the 2008 financial crisis.
The distressed-debt manager has wasted little time trying to take advantage of the plunge. His New York-based firm, which oversees about $1.2 billion, is raising a fund to invest in the bonds and loans of energy companies, according to marketing documents obtained by Bloomberg News. Mudrick, who founded Mudrick Capital Management in 2009, expects to amass $150 million to target debt trading at 40 cents to 80 cents on the dollar, said a person familiar with his plans, who asked for anonymity because the information is private.
Mudrick is racing other hedge funds and buyout firms to buy energy-related assets. The $5.7 billion Sound Point Capital Management and Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. are also raising capital to invest in energy companies after oil prices fell by half in the past year, the documents show. Private equity giants Oaktree Capital Group LLC, Blackstone Group LP, Carlyle Group LP, KKR & Co. and Apollo Global Management LLC have collected more than $20 billion in the past year for energy investing.