type limited partnership industry private equity founded 1992 ; 24 years ago 1992 founder steve feinberg william l. richter headquarters 875 third avenue new york city new york u.s. products distressed securities and assets private equity leveraged buyouts growth capital real estate investing commercial lending total assets 40 billion website www.cerberuscapital.com cerberus capital management l.p. is an american private equity firm 1 specializing in distressed investing . 2 the firm is based in new york city and run by steve feinberg who co founded cerberus in 1992 with william l. richter who currently serves as a senior managing director . the firm has affiliate and or advisory offices in the united states europe and asia . 3 cerberus has more than us 40 billion under management in funds and accounts . the company is a u.s. securities and exchange commission registered investment advisor . 4 investors include government and private sector pension and retirement funds charitable foundations university endowments insurance companies family savings and sovereign wealth funds . 1 contents 1 history 2 areas of focus 3 cerberus operations and advisory company llc coac 4 transactions and initiatives 5 additional involvements by sector 6 broken deal for united rentals 7 see also 8 notes and references 9 external links history edit cerberus is named after the mythological three headed dog that guarded the gates of hades . feinberg has stated to his employees that while the cerberus name seemed like a good idea at the time he later regretted naming the company after the mythological dog . 5 dan quayle former vice president of the united states 1989 1993 who served with former president george h. w. bush joined cerberus in 1999 and is chairman of the company s global investments division . areas of focus edit the company has been an acquirer of businesses over the past several years and now has investments in financial services healthcare consumer & retail government services manufacturing & distribution technology & telecommunications building products energy & natural resources apparel paper packaging & printing transportation commercial services industrial & automotive real estate travel & leisure and weaponry . 6 the firm is active in private equity investment lending specialty finance real estate investment and securities trading . 1 in may 2011 steve feinberg noted that the firm also believes that residential mortgage backed securities may present a real opportunity for continued investment for quite a period of time 7 and that there are opportunities in buying assets from european banks . the firm s current investment portfolio includes more than 40 companies around the world with an average hold time of more than five years . 8 cerberus maintains the cerberus operations & advisory company llc coac of senior operating executives to support the firm s due diligence and assist its portfolio companies . 9 cerberus operations and advisory company llc coac edit cerberus utilizes an operations team of over 100 staff approximately half of whom are currently employed by portfolio companies to help source analyze and monitor portfolio investments . activities performed by members of coac in the area of control private equity investments include due diligence acquisition planning board membership special project staffing and where appropriate occupying interim or full time open positions . 9 transactions and initiatives edit on july 1 2016 cerberus capital management acquired abc group . 10 on june 23 2016 ge announced a sale of its consumer finance business ge money bank to an affiliate of cerberus capital management . 11 on may 27 2016 cerberus capital management sold its 57 % state in blue bird corporation the independent designer and manufacturer of school buses to an affiliate of american securities . 12 on january 26 2016 keane a well completion services company owned by cerberus capital management agreed to acquire the majority of canada based trican well services ltd. s tsx twc u.s. assets for 247 million . 13 on december 17 2015 cerberus capital management announced a 605 million strategic partnership with avon products inc. . according to terms of the agreement cerberus will be buying 80 % of avon north america . in addition the investment will result in a nearly 17 % stake in avon products inc. 14 on march 6 2014 cerberus announced a definitive merger agreement with already owned albertsons and safeway . 15 september 16 2013 cerberus closed accurate metal solutions ams . over 400 employees at 2 locations anaheim ca and oxnard ca will be out of work at the end of a 60 day period as required by the warn act . 16 in january 2013 it announced a deal to acquire 877 stores in the albertson s acme jewel osco shaw s and star market chains from supervalu for 100 million and assumption of 3.2 billion of supervalu debt . 17 on december 18 2012 the company began divesting its assets in freedom group . 18 as of september 24 2013 they had not sold any of the freedom group . 19 on may 31 2012 cerberus capital management completed the sale of textile company guilford mills to lear corporation . 20 on march 8 2012 an affiliate of cerberus closed its acquisition of a controlling interest in at & t advertising solutions and at & t interactive which were combined into a new entity yp holdings llc . at & t received approximately 750 million in cash a 200 million note and a 47 percent equity interest in yp holdings llc . david krantz former ceo and president of at & t interactive was named ceo of yp . 21 22 23 24 on january 18 2012 rg steel llc announced that affiliates of cerberus committed new capital to the company . 25 on december 22 2011 covis pharma a specialty pharmaceutical company owned by affiliates of cerberus announced that it had agreed to acquire full commercial rights for fortaz ceftazidime zinacef cefuroxime lanoxin digoxin parnate tranylcypromine sulfate and zantac injection ranitidine hydrochloride in the united states and puerto rico from glaxosmithkline . 26 on october 27 2011 cerberus and chatham lodging trust closed their purchase of innkeepers usa trust for 1.02 billion . innkeepers operates hotels including the marriott hyatt hilton and other brands . 27 on october 19 2011 j.p. morgan worldwide securities services announced that it was selected by cerberus capital management to provide fund administration and related securities services for cerberus investment funds . 28 on october 4 2011 cerberus and garanti securities announced the formation of a joint initiative to pursue investments in turkey with an initial commitment of 400 million . 29 on may 16 2011 an affiliate of cerberus agreed to acquire the u.s. based global billing and payments unit of 3i infotech ltd. for 137 million . 30 on may 16 2011 cerberus completed the acquisition of silverleaf resorts for 2.50 in cash per share . 31 on march 31 2011 cerberus acquired a real estate portfolio consisting of 45 metro cash & carry properties in germany from the three major shareholders of metro ag . 32 on march 17 2011 cerberus acquired the senior bank debt and completed a debt restructuring of maxim office park a one million square foot office and logistics complex located between glasgow and edinburgh scotland . 33 on november 19 2010 cerberus and drago capital acquired a real estate portfolio of 97 bank branches from spain s fourth largest financial group caja madrid in a 25 year lease back transaction . 34 in june 2010 cerberus agreed to sell talecris to spain s grifols s.a. the transaction closed on june 1 2011 at a value of 4.2 billion . 35 on april 12 2010 cerberus acquired the private government services contractor dyncorp international for approximately 1 billion and the assumption of 500 million of debt . 36 in march 2010 cerberus agreed to buy new england s largest community based health care system caritas christi health care for 830 million . caritas christi was rebranded steward health care in november 2010 . 37 in march 2010 cerberus was the lead investor that gained an ownership stake in panavision as part of a debt restructuring agreement with shareholder macandrews & forbes the holding company of billionaire ronald perelman . 38 on march 10 2010 cerberus entered into a financing deal with geoeye in which the firm would provide the satellite imagery company funds of up to 215 million . 39 40 additional involvements by sector edit pharmaceuticals in december 2004 the company announced the acquisition of bayer s plasma products business and renamed it talecris biotherapeutics . it purchased talecris for 83m and sold the bulk of its shares in october 2009 for a net gain of 1.8 bn . 41 paper products the company acquired meadwestvaco s paper business for 2.3 b in 2005 and renamed it newpage . cerberus also purchased from georgia pacific corporation its distribution division building products and all of its associated real estate . it renamed this new company bluelinx holdings based in atlanta . aviation the portuguese company tap portugal was bought by a consortium that included david neeleman founder of azul linhas a reas brasileiras jetblue airways and westjet and humberto pedrosa . government services military energy and food & drug in addition to owning dyncorp international cerberus owns iap worldwide services which bought johnson controls world services division in february 2005 . previously owned multimax purchased predecessor company in 2000 and multimax in 2006 ; sold entire holding in 2007 to harris corporation . real estate through investment affiliate cerberus real estate the company has been making direct equity mezzanine first mortgage distressed and special situation investments in all asset types . cerberus also has a minority stake in miami beach based lnr property a large real estate development and investment firm through subsidiary riley property . cerberus also controls kyo ya a japan based group of entities that owns several starwood managed assets in california and hawaii . retail cerberus purchased 655 of the 2 500 albertson s inc. grocery stores forming albertsons llc of boise idaho in june 2006 . they also had an ownership stake in the now bankrupt mervyn s department stores which was acquired from target corp. in may 2012 cerberus sold its holdings in torex retail holdings ltd. a dunstable england based provider of information technology systems for the retail fuel and convenience stores and pub markets in the united kingdom and continental europe that was acquired in june 2007 to micros systems inc. 42 43 in january 2013 it announced a deal to acquire 877 stores in the albertson s acme shaw s and star market chains from supervalu for 100 million and acquisition of 3.2 billion on supervalu debt . 17 in february 2014 it was reported that safeway inc was in advanced talks with private equity firm cerberus capital management lp over a leveraged buyout deal . 3 . transportation acquired bankrupt anc rental then owner of the national and alamo car rental chains for 230 million in october 2003 and subsequently sold to enterprise rent a car in 2007 . 44 purchased daimlerchrysler s 45 % share of debis airfinance an aircraft leasing business in may 2005 . acquisition of debis airfinance later renamed aercap was completed in july 2005 . aercap completed its ipo in 2006 . 45 cerberus also acquired north american bus industries optima bus corporation and blue bird corp. in the bus manufacturing sector . cerberus sold its commercial bus manufacturing assets to new flyer industries in 2013 but retained the blue bird school bus production line . automotive peguform acquired by cerberus in 2004 and sold it to polytec four years later gdx automotive owned by cerberus until 2011 and chrysler . in 2007 cerberus and about 100 other investors purchased an 80 % stake in chrysler for 7.4 billion 46 seeking to bolster the auto maker s performance by operating as an independent company . in 2008 the