‘Walk, don’t run’ to take advantage of software disruption, says KKR
Eddie O’Neill and Jeremiah Lane, co-heads of global leveraged credit at KKR, give their view on the headwinds and opportunities in CLOs

News in brief
Top stories on creditflux.com: from First Trust’s CLO start to Apollo’s next generation

Credit dispersion increases as software loans pull away from the pack – KKR
Software loan bids fell to 87.97% during the first quarter, the lowest in four years, while the rest of the leveraged loan market held up

US CLO spreads break 120bp barrier as Oak Hill Advisors prices latest issue
OHA Credit Funding 26 priced the tightest standard-duration US deal in almost two months, while the end of the week also saw KKR printing its latest new-issue deal

Is Medallia the proverbial canary in the coal mine?
In 2021, the USD 6.4bn buyout of Medallia was hailed as a marquee deal for a private credit industry enjoying its golden age. It turned out to be a flop. Five years later, some of the sector’s titans, including Blackstone, Apollo, KKR and BlackRock’s HPS, are poised to take the keys to the troubled software firm from its private equity owners

KKR to support FS KKR BDC with USD 300m via investment, tender offers
The listed business development company will focus on reducing leverage, repurchasing stock, and managing existing investments instead of deployment

Virginia, Arkansas among systems expanding into alternative credit strategies
Recent Ares funds gain momentum with allocations from VRS, TCDRS; Arkansas Teachers plan multi-strategy credit SMAs with KKR, Brookfield

KKR prorates investor exits from semi-liquid ABF fund
The firm will fulfill around 69% of each shareholder’s exit request to keep the total liquidity offering this quarter to 5% of the fund’s net asset value

Texas, Massachusetts systems reveal real estate debt, direct lending investments
Texas ERS, TCDRS disclose commitments worth USD 875m; MassPRIM invests in KKR's opportunistic real estate debt fund

New US CLOs see mezz widening even as issuance maintains steady pace
Over USD 2.4bn of new CLO paper priced on Tuesday and Wednesday as Blackstone, Nuveen, Voya, Sixth Street and KKR all printed new BSL transactions

CalPERS, CalSTRS disclose large commitments to Blackstone credit vehicles
CalPERS invests USD 5.75bn in 3Q25 across seven vehicles; CalSTRS, LACERA reveal allocations totalling USD 750m each

FS KKR’s Lionbridge loan hit with AI threat, put on nonaccrual
The listed BDC also added Alacrity Solutions, AmeriVet Partners, Dental Care Alliance and Gracent to its nonaccrual list and cut dividends by nearly a third to USD 0.48 per share

KKR’s co-head of credit says ‘it’s adult swim only’ in markets
PODCAST: Christopher Sheldon, co-head of credit and capital markets at KKR, tells Lisa Lee on the latest episode of Credit Exchange that 2026 is set to be defined by avoiding mistakes rather than picking winners, with elevated defaults and downgrades resulting in a challenging investing environment

KKR prices second deal in programmatic private credit CLO strategy
The transaction is the second in the manager’s series of private credit CLO issues under the KIMM (KKR Institutional Middle Market CLO) banner, following the pricing of KIMM CLO I in October 2024

New Jersey, Oklahoma systems double down on private credit SMAs
New Jersey DOI commits USD 600m to Golub Capital, while Oklahoma, NY systems increase allocations to SMAs; Vermont pension could commit USD 235m in 2026

LACERS stalls private credit consultant renewal, Connecticut system issues RFP
The Texas County & District Retirement System invests another USD 60m in Alcentra's Structured Credit Opportunities Fund V, while LACERS delays private credit consultant renewal over fees

South Carolina, Texas among systems disclosing recent credit allocations
Ares Pathfinder Fund III to launch in 1Q26 with USD 5bn target, while South Carolina system allocates USD 550m to two managers and Illinois and Montana systems commit USD 150m across various funds

KKR confirms lack of exposure to First Brands, rejects concerns about cracks in private credit
In a new investment insight, KKR’s Daniel Pietrzak said that the failure of First Brands and Tricolor does not indicate cracks in private credit 

KKR issues 2023-vintage US reset
KKR’s latest US CLO reset priced via Citi as a USD 465m transaction

Oklahoma system allocates USD 1.3bn as others set 2026 targets
OTRS commits USD 1.3bn to Blackstone, KKR private credit funds, while Los Angeles, New Hampshire, San Antonio pensions disclose recent moves

Florida, New Mexico systems commit hundreds of millions to direct lending
Florida commits USD 1bn to European direct lending; New Mexico allocates USD 450m at November meeting; Illinois, San Diego pensions also disclose recent commitments

Watch out for the cockroaches
After the collapse of First Brands, some of the biggest hitters in global finance have been quick to argue that any bugs in the system won’t affect them — but are bad news for everyone else

KKR resets US CLO for first time since 2017
The 12-year-old KKR Financial CLO 2013-1 recapitalised its debt tranches to the tune of around USD 243.5m in the repricing

Aviva’s new pension strategy to allocate 20%-25% to private markets
My Future Vision has partnered with Neuberger, KKR, Apollo and others to deliver private markets access to pension savers