Thanks to a private equity partner, Victory Capital Management [profile] was able to gain its freedom from KeyCorp in a $246 million leveraged buyout.

But what do we know about Victory's private equity ally, Crestview Partners?

A spokesperson for Crestview told MFWire that the shop's executives are "not available to do interviews." Yet MFWire was able to learn this much about the firm and its appetite in the asset management space.

With roughly $4 billion in assets, New York-based Crestview was founded in 2004 by Goldman Sachs emigres Barry Volpert, Thomas Murphy, and Bob Hurst. According to the firm's website, the firm is a valued-orientated investor that targets "$100-250 million equity investments in companies with enterprise values up to $3 billion."

The firm currently manages two private equity fund complexes. Fund I was launched in 2004/2005 with approximately $1.5 billion in capital commitments and is fully invested in 11 companies. Fund II was launched in November 2007 and has $2.4 billion in capital commitments and 10 investments to date.

On its website, the company notes 20-companies in its portfolio, including investment bank (and former mutual fund shop) FBR Capital Markets Corporation [profile] and asset manager Munder Capital Management [profile].

Crestview partnered with Munder executives in a management buyout of the asset manager in January 2007. MFWire covered the deal in this way.

As of June 30, 2009, Crestview Partners GP, L.P. and its affiliates held units representing 64.2 percent of the firm’s value, according to an SEC filing.

Meanwhile, Crestview bought $100 million worth of FBR Capital Markets Corporation in June 2006 according to an SEC filing.

According to a February 14th filing with the SEC, Crestview owned 8,591,641 FBR shares.

For much of 2009, Crestview was also a competitive bidder in the battle to acquire AIG Investments for roughly $300 to $400 million. The AIG unit was ultimately sold to Bridge Partners for $500 million in September of that year. 

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