White Mountains to back Easterly Partners Group

White Mountains has agreed to provide growth funding to Boston and New York-based Easterly Partners Group, an asset management holding company that owns stakes in third-party asset management businesses. No financial terms were disclosed.

PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK & HAMILTON, Bermuda–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Easterly Partners Group, an asset management holding company that owns stakes in third-party asset management businesses and assists them with strategic growth, and White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM, “White Mountains”), a financial services holding company with approximately $3.6 billion in assets, announced today that they have entered into a strategic partnership.

White Mountains will provide growth capital to enable Easterly Partners Group to accelerate its business development. White Mountains may also commit its investment assets to the strategies and products of Easterly Partners Group’s existing and new affiliates and/or additional capital to acquire, jointly with Easterly Partners Group, stakes in other third-party asset managers.

“The agreement with White Mountains will support our existing affiliates with capital formation, product development and enterprise value creation and will enable us to invest in additional outstanding firms. We are uniquely positioned to deliver on the promise of growth that all of our affiliates desire,” said Darrell Crate, one of Easterly Partners Group’s three Managing Principals. “We look forward to working with the White Mountains management team, who has a long track record of successful investing in the financial services sector.”

Manning Rountree, Chief Executive Officer of White Mountains, added, “We entered into this partnership with Easterly Partners Group because of its sector leadership and demonstrated track record of building enterprise value for asset managers. We have known the team for a long time, and we are delighted to join forces. We see opportunities to expand our asset management activities selectively, and we look forward to working with Easterly Partners Group to do so.”
Crate’s previous experience includes serving as chief financial officer of Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE: AMG). During Crate’s time as CFO, AMG invested in or partnered with 27 investment firms. AMG’s assets under management grew from $50 billion to more than $320 billion, and AMG’s valuation increased from $450 million to $6 billion.

The other Managing Principals of Easterly Partners Group, who collectively have raised $50 billion of institutional equity during their careers, are David Cody, formerly of Fortress Investment Group (NYSE:FIG), and Avshalom Kalichstein, formerly of J.C. Flowers & Co.

About Easterly Partners Group
Easterly Partners Group is a private asset management holding company that has interests in boutique investment management firms. Easterly Partners Group acquires and develops ownership stakes in select asset management businesses seeking to accelerate growth, institutionalize their products and platforms further and generate enterprise value. For more information about Easterly Partners Group, please visit www.easterlypartners.com.
Easterly Partners Group is associated with Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DEA) and is an affiliate of Easterly Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: EACQ). For more information about Easterly Government Properties, Inc., please visit www.easterlyreit.com. For more information about Easterly Acquisition Corp., please visit www.easterlyacquisition.com.

About White Mountains
White Mountains is a Bermuda-domiciled financial services holding company traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Bermuda Stock Exchange under the symbol WTM. Additional financial information and other items of interest are available at the Company’s web site located at www.whitemountains.com.