BlueBay closes private debt fund
BlueBay Asset Management has announced the final close of Direct Lending Fund II SLP, exceeding its revised target of €2bn.
This fund builds on very strong support from existing investors with over 80% of its previous fund’s investors committing to the fund. The fund also attracted new investors globally.
The fund is BlueBay’s second generation Private Debt fund and BlueBay’s Private Debt business, headed by Anthony Fobel, now manages in excess of €4bn of AUM in Private Debt vehicles.
It will provide flexible financing solutions to medium-sized European businesses to fill the funding gap left by banks, by investing in senior secured and selected subordinated loans, with the ability to underwrite large tickets in excess of €200m.
At final close, the fund is already 25% committed. The deal pipeline remains strong, reflecting growing demand from mid-market companies for larger bespoke financing solutions from private debt funds.
BlueBay’s Private Debt team has further strengthened its position as a pan-European investor with the appointments in the last twelve months of Christophe Vulliez, Vincent Vitores and Arnaud Piens to lead its business in France and Spain, as well as additional members Nick Edwards, Matteo Ranzato and Alex Davies.
Anthony Fobel, head of Private Debt at BlueBay said: “We are continuing to experience a structural shift in the financing markets in Europe away from traditional bank sources with the rapidly growing acceptance of private debt investors as alternative sources of finance to small and medium sized businesses.
“This structural shift has been accompanied by a significant increase in demand for debt finance from businesses, driven by a rapid increase in M&A activity and general recovery across corporate Europe.
“Through our Private Debt funds, we are identifying attractive investment opportunities to support medium-sized business in their growth objectives across Europe.”
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