Angelo, Gordon & Co. announced the hiring of the new Angelo Gordon Energy Team, comprised of four professionals with substantial, decades-long debt and equity investing experience across all energy industry sectors.  The team and Angelo Gordon's newest office will be located in Houston, Texas, and will be led by Todd Dittmann.

"We are delighted to welcome Todd and his team to the firm," said David Roberts, Angelo Gordon's chief operating officer.  "We made a strategic decision to enter the energy space based on the substantial size of the industry and the unprecedented need for the industry to raise capital.  Given our Firm's deep background in credit, we decided to address energy through a credit-oriented approach that will allow us to efficiently lend to the industry.  We have found a stellar team with deep energy lending experience and substantial deal sourcing capabilities.  Importantly, the team is also a great cultural fit, sharing our emphasis on collaboration among our investment teams, our focus on absolute returns, and our research-intensive approach.  We believe the Houston location will be an important ingredient to the team's success in sourcing financings to the energy industry."

"We recognize the opportunity to invest in capital-intensive energy companies that are consistently underserved by more traditional capital markets, with a particular focus on senior- and junior-secured debt investments," said Todd Dittmann.  "Although we will consider larger transactions, our focus will be on making loans in a size range of $20 million to $60 million.  Pursuing this strategy with Angelo Gordon is a wonderful opportunity, given the synergies offered by the larger Angelo Gordon platform."

"By blending our new energy team's experience and relationships with our deep expertise in credit, we are very well positioned to evaluate and execute secured financings in today's environment," said the firm's founders, John Angelo and Michael Gordon.

Todd Dittmann has over 20 years of experience as an investment and finance professional focusing on the energy industry.  This experience includes the closing of approximately 85 senior-secured, mezzanine, equity and other investments completed as a principal investor or lender.  In the spring of 2013, Dittmann formed a team to focus on credit opportunities in the energy sector.  Angelo Gordon has hired Dittmann and the team he assembled, which includes Damon Putman, Managing Director; David Taylor, Managing Director; and Paul Gottheim, Associate.  Damon Putman was recently CFO of a private energy company.  David Taylor is a registered professional engineer and was recently a partner in an energy investment banking boutique and its associated investment practice.  Both Putman and Taylor have substantial energy investing experience, having been involved in the sourcing, evaluation and closing of over 50 senior secured, mezzanine and equity investments.

Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P. is a privately held limited partnership founded in November 1988, and currently manages approximately $24 billion.