Blackstone secures $8.75 billion for lending fund
Blackstone Credit has collected $8.75 billion on the final close of its latest credit opportunities fund, Blackstone Capital Opportunities Fund IV, above its $7.5 billion target

GSO co-founders reunite as Hunter Point buys minority stake in Iron Park
Two of the three GSO Capital Partners co-founders Bennett Goodman and Tripp Smith have been reunited with Goodman’s Hunter Point Capital buying a minority stake in Smith’s Iron Park Capital

LP round up: CLO fund included in whopping $13 billion of credit allocations in November
Credit took centre stage in November as investors allocated over $13 billion to credit funds in the month, with one pension allocating $50 million for a European CLO risk retention fund 

HPS targets $9.5 billion for fifth mezzanine debt fund
HPS Investment Partners is targeting $9.5 billion for its fifth global mezzanine debt fund, HPS Strategic Investment Partners V - but unlike earlier vintages, HPS says it will not target opportunities within the upstream energy space

Middle east firm hires high profile loan official to build on control CLO equity business
Middle east asset manager Lakemore Partner is doubling down on CLOs with the control CLO equity investor hiring one of the biggest names in the loan and CLO management business

Santander to acquire Amherst Pierpont for $600 million
Banco Santander says it has struck an agreement to acquire fixed income broker dealer Amherst Pierpont Securities

Northleaf closes global private credit fund with $1.2 billion deployable capital
Northleaf Capital Partners has raised more than $900 million for its second private credit strategy, Northleaf Private Credit II 

KKR adds two senior private credit hires as it eyes new receivables and inventory financing strategy
KKR has added a former Credit Suisse and Sound Point Capital official to its private asset-based finance team 

Sound Point confirms buy-out of CVC's US direct lending business
Sound Point Capital Management has bought CVC’s US direct lending business, the pair have confirmed. The deal will add $1 billion of assets to Sound Point’s $25 billion platform and includes nine investment professionals

Sound Point strikes deal to buy CVC's US direct lending business: WSJ
Sound Point Capital Management has agreed to buy CVC’s $1.5 billion US direct lending arm as part of a push into private credit 

Audax closes fifth junior debt fund at $1.9 billion
Audax Mezzanine Fund V will provide junior capital investments in private equity-backed middle market companies

Jefferies Credit poaches senior RBC pair for direct lending business
Jefferies Credit Partners has expanded its middle direct lending business with two senior hires

Toronto-based Whitehorse Liquidity hits $4 billion hard cap on liquidity solutions fund
Whitehorse Liquidity Partners Fund IV provides liquidity solutions to private equity-style fund investors and managers

Cerberus racks up $4.4 billion for US direct lending strategy
Cerberus Capital Management has held a final close of its latest US mid-market direct lending fund, Cerberus Levered Loan Opportunities Fund IV 

Ex-Highland official launches private credit placement agent firm for niche strategies
The former partner and chief executive officer at global placement agent FirstAvenue Americas, has launched his own placement agent named Briarcliffe Credit Partners

Credit funds at a glance: several funds post double digit November returns
November was a strong month for credit hedge funds listed by Creditflux, with latest returns demonstrating the effect of the vaccine/US election rally on fund perfomance

LP round up: pensions plan private credit pacing as strategic credit takes on "midfield" role
US pensions have allocated $1.4 billion across 22 credit funds including those managed by Angelo Gordon, Ares and GoldenTree, according to recent board documents seen by Creditflux. Meanwhile a pension fund draws parallels between strategic credit and Jordan Henderson

Owl Rock hires in London for investor relations push
Owl Rock Capital, a New York headquartered manager, has made a senior hire to help build its investor base across the Atlantic 

LP round up: Monroe and Angelo Gordon beat 25 for direct lending mandate, as private credit plans brew
US public pension funds have disclosed $1.2 billion in commitments to credit focused strategies

Manager shrinks in distressed and explores US direct lending sale: Debtwire
A global asset manager has a fresh set of priorities for its global credit platform with distressed debt and US direct lending moving down the pecking order

Antares names loan head successor following retirement
Peter Nolan, head of loan syndicate, sales and trading at Antares Capital is set to retire from the $27 billion firm

Former GoldenTree high-flyers launch structured credit firm in Los Angeles
A former GoldenTree senior portfolio manager and business development specialist have launched an asset manager that will invest across an array of structured credit, including CLOs, synthetics and private transactions

Credit fundraising: managers build homes for real estate credit funds
The “largest ever real estate credit fund” was one of the fundraising highlights last month as Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies IV fund reached $8 billion on its final close

HPS closes mezzanine debt fund with $11 billion to deploy
New York-based manager HPS has held a final close on HPS Mezzanine Partners 2019

LP round up: $5 billion flows to credit as private market allocations increase
Global institutional investors allocated nearly $5 billion to credit funds this week, according to documents seen by Creditflux