Octavian Advisors, an alternative investment management firm specialising in distressed and special situations, has concluded a joint venture and strategic alliance with the Shanghai-based

Octavian Advisors, an alternative investment management firm specialising in distressed and special situations, has concluded a joint venture and strategic alliance with the Shanghai-based Goshawk Group, which invests in distressed and proprietary corporate and real estate opportunities throughout Asia. Goshawk is an affiliate of Chenco Holdings, an investment firm with activities in Taiwan and the US as well as China.

'Asia offers an enormous array of the complex and proprietary situations Octavian seeks,' says co-founder and chief executive Richard Hurowitz. 'Our relationship with Goshawk will allow us to further build our presence and network in Asia not only for distressed deals, but also for our growing role as a provider of merchant capital.'

Jonathan Lipton, co-founder and managing director of Goshawk, says: 'Octavian is well known for its ability to discover and unlock value from complicated investments. I have known Richard and members of the Octavian team personally and professionally for many years, so I am particularly excited that we have formed this alliance.'

Through the joint venture, Octavian and Goshawk will source and co-invest in distressed, private and special situations opportunities together. Octavian will have access to more than 30 Mandarin-speaking personnel in offices in Shanghai, Taipei, and Tianjin to help find and conduct due diligence on potential investments in both the private and public equity markets. Goshawk will co-locate its New York office with Octavian, where Lipton will be based full-time.

The other founders of Goshawk are Fernando Bensuaski and Derek Chen. 'Navigating and capitalising on Asia's vast opportunities requires deep local knowledge and the ability to gauge and price risk,' says Chen, who is Goshawk's chairman. 'Octavian is in the highest echelon of smart global investors, and this joint venture will mesh our core competencies as we seek to produce outsized risk-adjusted returns for our investors.'

Octavian Advisors is active in various alternative investment strategies including distressed debt, special situations, non-traditional assets and private transactions, and is a provider of merchant capital. Octavian, which has headquarters in New York, operations in Dallas and an affiliate office in Auckland, New Zealand, currently manages more than USD1.1bn in assets for endowments, foundations, pension funds, family offices and funds of funds.