Avenue Capital Management II

Marc Lasry, co-founder and CEO, and Sonia Gardner, co-founder and President, jointly oversee the platform. Lasry focuses on sourcing and large distressed-debt theses, while Gardner manages the firm's day-to-day investment operations, a structure that has been in place since the firm's 1995 founding.

The firm sources through two primary channels: direct relationships with selling banks and forced sellers in bankruptcy proceedings, and Lasry's extensive network across sovereign governments and distressed corporates. Avenue's reputation as a buyer of complex, out-of-favor debt pools — including European non-performing loans and Puerto Rico government bonds — brings deal flow from institutions seeking rapid portfolio de-risking.

It is a private investment partnership structured as an asset manager. Unlike a single-family office, Avenue pools third-party institutional capital alongside partner commitments. The firm was founded by Lasry and Gardner, who did not originate from a single-family wealth source but from distressed-debt investing roles at other firms.

Avenue typically acts as the lead or controlling investor in its distressed positions rather than a co-investor alongside other GPs. In larger sovereign or energy restructurings, the firm has accepted co-investment capital on a deal-specific basis, but its model centers on proprietary sourcing and concentrated position-building rather than passive club deals.

Avenue held a $1.5 billion position in Puerto Rican government debt, becoming one of the island's largest creditors ahead of its 2017 bankruptcy. The position drew public criticism after Hurricane Maria when protesters demanded debt relief, and it became a central case study in the ethics of distressed sovereign-debt investing. Lasry publicly defended the investment, arguing the firm engaged in good-faith restructuring negotiations (per the Financial Times, 2018).

Avenue has historically avoided venture-stage and growth-equity technology investments, which lack the distressed entry price and restructurable balance sheets its underwriting requires. The firm's energy exposure has been limited to post-distress entry points rather than exploration-stage or speculative drilling positions.

Avenue Capital Management II is a specific vehicle within the broader Avenue Capital Group platform, formed in 2008 as a distressed-debt and special-situations fund. Avenue Capital Group encompasses multiple vehicles including U.S. and Europe-focused distressed funds, a real estate arm, and historically an Asia special-situations fund. The management company and investment committee are shared across strategies.