Avenue Capital raises billion dollar European special situations fund
New York-headquartered Avenue Capital Group held the final close of a new European special situations fund with more than USD 1bn in commitments

Fund performance
In February, CLO funds once again claimed the majority of top positions in our fund ranking — this time taking eight of the top 10 spots (see table below).

BlackRock reshuffles European fixed income group leadership
BlackRock is rearranging its European fundamental fixed income group with a new senior-level promotion, as veteran Michael Krautzberger plans his departure

Funds round-up: Feb-2024 - managers turn to European wealth
European private credit managers turn to the wealthy in our roundup of notable fundraising in February 2024. 

Wave of legal hires becomes a tsunami
In February alone legal heavyweights Allen & Overy, DLA Piper, Fried Frank, Kirkland & Ellis, Proskauer Rose and White & Case all announced the arrival of partners in the credit space

Fund performance: CLO funds dominate top 10, but long-short and Ucits funds find places too
CLO funds made sure to end the year their way: once again they claimed most of the top performance spots. Six of the 10 best-performing funds in December have a majority of their assets invested in CLOs.

Full-year 2023 European Leveraged Highlights
Debtwire has released the full-year 2023 European Leveraged Highlights, containing key trends in the leveraged loan and high-yield bond markets

Managers advise caution despite upbeat outlook for private credit
The golden age of private credit isn’t over yet. In fact, industry experts remain bullish, anticipating continued growth in our breakdown of recent outlooks for the market

Private credit hit by growing pains as agreements get longer and execution slows
The rapid rise in private credit continues to stir up excitement among borrowers. But, despite the sector’s competitive advantages — such as speed of execution and light regulation — deals are taking longer to close as the industry expands.

Fund performance
Q4 has kicked off with structured finance funds leading the way in the Creditflux league tables, as the category index reached 0.61%, and all but one fund made positive returns.

BNP Paribas launches climate impact infrastructure debt fund
BNP Paribas Asset Management has launched the BNP Paribas Climate Impact Infrastructure Debt fund as interest in impact investing and ESG-related causes continues to grow around the world

DebtDynamics EMEA | Right on time
Leveraged loan borrowers favouring shorter tenors pile maturities for 2028

DebtDynamics EMEA | Under pressure: likely-to-distress scores highlight struggling industries and regional woes
The European leveraged market has crossed the threshold of 100 companies at the stressed/distressed lifecycle stage, according to Debtwire data

Loan Highlights 3Q23: Loan volumes remain significantly lower than historical averages
Capital markets loan activity continued to struggle in the third quarter of 2023, as issuers in the Americas and Europe held off from tapping markets

Credit impact fund surpasses $100 million target close
The fund targets companies that support social and environmental causes in Africa, Asia and the Americas

Testing the water: issuers gauge sterling HY bond demand following 10-year record low
Pure Gym, a UK-based fitness club, has become the second company in a week to test demand for sterling-denominated senior secured notes in the European high-yield market

1H23 European direct lender rankings
The volume of European direct lending facilities issued fell to just €8.5 billion in 2Q23. The same quarter last year was the largest on record at €51.3 billion, representing over an 80% drop year on year.

Retail maintains primacy as most distressed sector in Europe with €31 billion of debt restructuring commenced in 1H23
Newly commenced restructurings tracked by Debtwire in Europe during 1H 2023 show 114 mainly large-cap restructurings, compared to 89 tracked in 1H 2022, a 28% increase year-on-year

European direct lender launches third fund
European asset manager Bridgepoint has closed its third direct lending fund, BDL III, with investable capital of over €3.4 billion according to a company announcement. 

Loan Highlights 2Q23: Running aground
The global loan market endured a bleak first half of the year, with the overall 1H23 volume falling 28% year-on-year (YoY) to $1.9 trillion, the lowest showing since 2012.

Hedge fund Sona taps Barclays exec
Private credit manager Victory Park Capital has launched Triumph Capital Markets, a new platform that focuses on structured financing and capital markets

LP round up: HPS wins $550m mandate as Ares launches third US direct lending fund
US institutional investors allocated nearly $3 billion to credit funds in April. The news comes amid a BlackRock survey in the month which showed significant investor interest in private credit

Virginia pension discloses $800 million in credit allocations
Virginia Retirement System has disclosed $800 million in credit fund allocations made over the first quarter of this year

Fund performance: European CLO funds lead the way
February was a positive month for many funds, as only one quarter failed to reach the black. This builds off a stellar start to the year: 96% of funds reached a positive return in January

HPS raises $12 billion for fifth junior capital fund
HPS Investment Partners has closed its fifth junior capital solutions fund, HPS Strategic Investment Partners V, at $12 billion. With leverage, the strategy has $17 billion investable capital