(Adds details, background)
By Michael Flaherty
NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - Elliott Management's private equity division was among the firms that provided financing to Vista Equity Partners for its $3.6 billion purchase of Canada's DH Corp DH.TO , according to people familiar with the matter.
Evergreen Coast Capital Corp, the private equity group within Elliott that the hedge fund has expanded in the last year, offered around $400 million in preferred equity for the deal, people familiar with the matter said, in the group's first successful deal financing since launching last year. role in the DH Corp deal shows how Elliott, the $31 billion multi-strategy hedge fund, shareholder activist and distressed debt investor, is seeking to increase its role in private equity deal financing.
Evergreen, based in Menlo Park, California, hired Eoin Duane late last year from Guggenheim Partners to oversee its financing business, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Vista's deal on Monday was not the first time Evergreen has peddled its lending services.
The group offered financing to the private equity firms circling MSC Software when the company was up for sale earlier this year, people familiar with the matter said. Evergreen never struck a financing deal because Swedish software maker Hexagon beat out private equity bidders, agreeing last month to pay $834 million for MSC. also offered financing to private equity firm Thoma Bravo when it agreed to buy Qlik Technologies for $3 billion last June, people familiar with the matter said, though the buyer did not take Elliott up on the offer.
New York-based Elliott launched Evergreen last year, after founder Paul Singer, senior portfolio manager Jesse Cohn and other senior leaders decided to ramp up the hedge fund's ability make private equity-style investments. declined to comment. A Vista spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.