Blackstone wins Italian direct lending approval for five funds
Blackstone has been granted direct lending approval in Italy for five Irish-domiciled alternative investment funds (AIFs), according to an announcement by law firm Simmons & Simmons, who advised on the approval

Fund of funds manager holds €51 million first close for direct lending strategy
A European fund of funds manager has held a first close on a new vehicle which will back SME direct lending funds

Former European Capital team raises $725 million for new direct lending fund
LGT Capital Partners has raised at least $725 million for a private debt fund, following the acquisition of private debt manager European Capital Partners from Ares Management in March last year

KKR and Schroders back €1 billion Dutch direct lending fund
Neos, a Dutch direct lending firm, has held a €1 billion close on its Dutch and German direct lending joint venture

Credit drives strong returns for five of the largest asset managers in the business
Carlyle is close to hitting its ambitious fundraising target; direct lending has been kind to Ares; and Och-Ziff has decided to shed its US CLO risk retention stakes after exiting its financing agreements

Direct lender Green Arrow adds two strings to its bow with new funds
Green Arrow Capital, which recently acquired Italian private equity house Quadrivio, is nearing a final close for two funds, sources say.

Ares launches "largest ever" European direct lending fund with up to €10 billion to invest
Ares Management has held the final close on what it claims to be the largest European direct lending fund raise ever

KKR eyes second European direct lending fund
New York headquartered KKR is looking to raise its second European direct lending fund - KKR Direct Lending Europe II, European regulatory filings reveal.

Hayfin looks to launch third European direct lending vehicle
European credit specialist Hayfin Capital Management is looking to launch Hayfin Direct Lending Fund III, according to regulatory filings 

Neuberger's Dyal acquires minority stake in HPS
Dyal Partners, a division of Neuberger Berman, has acquired a minority equity stake in global credit manager HPS Investment Partners

Patrimonium set to launch two European direct lending funds
Direct lender Patrimonium Asset Management is launching two new direct lending funds – with both funds anticipated to hold first closes at around €150 million in the coming week, according to market sources

Idinvest holds €715 million final close for fourth direct lending fund
Paris-based Idinvest Partners has surpassed its initial €600 million target size, raising €715 million for its final close

Hermes partners with another three banks to deliver European direct lending fund
Hermes Investment Management has formed new lending partnerships with Danske Bank, DZ Bank and KBC Bank for its upcoming European-focused fund 

Rothschild holds €655 million close for European mid-market loan fund
Rothschild Merchant Banking has closed its European mid-market direct lending fund, Five Arrows Direct Lending, with €655 million capital commitments

UK funds brace themselves against value-for-money ruling
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its final set of fund governance rules that aim to strengthen the duty of authorised fund managers to their investors.

Private debt impact funds demonstrate their value in emerging markets
Private debt is becoming an important channel for impact investing with over a third of impact investing AUM tied to private debt, according to a new survey

Ares targets €4.5 billion for fourth European direct lending fund
Los Angeles based Ares Capital Management has launched its fourth European direct lending fund, Ares Capital Europe IV, with a €4.5 billion target size, SEC filings show

Zencap looks to raise €200 million for its third infra debt fund
French alternative investment boutique Zencap Asset Management is launching its third senior infra debt fund with a €200 million first close target, the firm announced on Friday.

AlbaCore closes debut direct lending fund at €1.5 billion
AlbaCore Capital has held a successful final close of its debut fund, AlbaCore Partners I, at €1.458 ($1.79) billion. The fund exceeded its €1 billion target, the firm announced on Thursday

Structured credit specialists seek future-proofing in direct lending
At the turn of the last credit cycle, structured credit recovered spectacularly – but credit managers today seem to be gravitating towards private credit as the area to pick up excess returns in a downturn

Direct lenders pile into "turbocharged" market as fundraising skyrockets: report
Growth in the direct lending market in the 12 months to 31 December was “turbocharged,” growing robustly in the fourth quarter 2017 in particular due to a consistently growing Eurozone economy, according to Deloitte

UBS AM debuts second infra debt fund with €448 million raised to date
UBS Asset Management has launched its second infrastructure debt fund, having raised €448.4 million in seed commitments from initial investors for the vehicle

Owl Rock BDC assets swell by $1.26 billion in 12 months
Owl Rock’s first business development company has increased its total assets by $1.26 billion and its net assets by $790 million in over just one year, filings indicate

UK pension mega-fund to increase credit allocation following equity reduction
One of the UK's largest pension funds looks set to increase its allocation to credit after reducing its equity allocation by 15%

Three Swiss banks team up to launch new private market fund platform
New investment boutique Hermance Capital Partners will focus on private equity, private debt and private real estate