https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/10/yieldstreet-acquires-athena-for-170m-to-add-art-financing-to-its-alternative-investment-platform/

YieldStreet — which raised $62 million in February to further open up alternative investments in areas like shipping, real estate, legal finance and commercial loans to a wider base of investors — is today announcing its first acquisition to expand into a new asset class. It is paying $170 million to acquire Athena Art Finance, which provides loans to art dealers, collectors, and museums and galleries to buy fine art and other collectibles.

Athena had been founded in 2015 and was controlled private equity firm Carlyle Group along with individual investors (one of whom is Olivier Sarkozy, the half-brother of the former president of France). YieldStreet said that to date, Athena has racked up cumulative originations totalling some $225 million (the fees that are made out of originating the loans) and, strikingly, no realized credit losses. It will continue to be led by Cynthia E. Sachs under YieldStreet.