Apollo Global Management, the New York-based alternative investment manager, has acquired Stone Tower Capital, an alternative credit management firm, in a deal that increases the former's total assets under management to around $82 billion.

Stone Tower currently manages approximately $17 billion of alternative credit assets across a range of corporate credit funds through separately managed accounts, credit opportunity funds and collateralized loan obligations. Terms of the deal were not disclosed but the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2012. The company's client base includes state and county pension funds, superannuation funds, family offices, endowments and high net worth individuals.

The merger is supposed to bolster Apollo's "scale and diversity" as a global credit management firm, the company said in a statement. As of 30 September, Apollo had around $65 billion in assets under management.