The M&A market is normalising – Ares’ Matt Theodorakis
PODCAST: “People are looking to do deals going forward” after taking a pause following ‘Liberation Day’, Theodorakis told Lisa Lee, managing editor at Creditflux, on the latest Credit Exchange podcast

Clearlake seals largest new direct lending deal for Dun & Bradstreet
Ares leads deal, taking USD 1.5bn; Morgan Stanley, Clearlake Capital Markets, Golub and Blue Owl also helped arrange the largest new unitranche ever

Clearlake, direct lenders plan to ink USD 5bn private credit loan for Dun & Bradstreet
EXCLUSIVE: A group of direct lenders led by Ares are wrapping up a USD 5bn term loan and USD 500m revolver, prepping to sign commitment documents within hours

PNC Bank to buy Aqueduct to grow fundraising service capabilities
The acquisition will add to the existing capital advisory services provided by PNC subsidiary Harris Williams

Clearlake abandons bank-led option for a private credit loan to replace Dun & Bradstreet financing
EXCLUSIVE: The private equity firm is going with the Ares-led private credit loan rather than tapping banks to raise debt in the capital markets 

Clearlake set to seal private credit loan to replace risky Dun & Bradstreet financing
EXCLUSIVE: Ares leads USD 5bn unitranche loan with JPMorgan among expected lenders that will replace original 364-day financing

Clearlake launches Clearlake Credit to chase private and public credit investments
The new platform will integrate the newly acquired MV Credit and WhiteStar Asset Management

TPG, Temasek take minority stake in private credit interval fund pioneer Cliffwater
Cliffwater has nearly USD 28bn in its flagship private credit interval fund, the largest in the US

Coller Capital buys USD 1.6bn portfolio, claiming largest senior direct lending secondaries deal
The private markets secondaries specialist has acquired a senior direct lending portfolio from a multiline US insurer

CLO manager M&A driven by search for talent and scale

Bill Lemberg helms CLO team as Post Advisory mulls sales
Lemberg has put his retirement plans on hold following the quick departure of Marc Boatwright
 

Blackstone partners with ITE to push into IG private credit
Blackstone Credit & Insurance has been focused on building its private origination pipeline for IG private credit

Apollo’s Redding Ridge agrees to acquire Irradiant to become top 5 CLO manager
The deal will also see Irradiant Partners’s senior management team take up positions across Redding Ridge and Apollo

Cresset sells private credit portfolio to StepStone, spins out private investing biz
Cresset’s head of private credit and other members of that team are not joining StepStone and will not be part of the private investing spinout 

Stonepeak completes purchase of lower middle market tech lender
Stonepeak has closed its acquisition of middle market lender Boundary Street Capital to expand its credit footprint

BMO strikes partnership with firm founded by ex-CBAM’s Young and Damaso
BMO and Canal Road Group have struck a direct lending partnership that includes BMO taking a minority stake in the asset management company and investing up to USD 1bn 

Ramirez Asset Management acquires private credit team from Avenue Capital Group
Ramirez Asset Managemen has acquired a private credit opportunities strategy team from Avenue Capital Group

Daniel Loeb’s Third Point agrees to acquire Birch Grove
Billionaire Daniel Loeb’s Third Point said it will acquire AS Birch Grove from American Securities, in a move designed to expand the hedge fund's credit capabilities, according to a press release

This time around, BlackRock will be poised to be a shaper of the move
USD 12bn seems a lot to pay for HPS. But BlackRock urgently needed to catch up in private credit

Silver Rock sells 42% stake to Mubadala
New York-based Silver Rock has agreed to sell a 42% stake to Mubadala Capital, but the two entities will continue to operate independently

HPS deal is expensive but catapults BlackRock into private credit top five
BlackRock is poised to become one of the largest private credit managers in the world after agreeing to buy private credit manager HPS Investment Partners at a rich 30x multiple

BlackRock acquires HPS in USD 12bn deal
BlackRock has acquired HPS Investment Partners for USD 12bn in an all-stock transaction, creating a private credit franchise with a combined USD 220bn in client assets

VSS Capital Partners sells minority stake
VSS Capital Partners, which manages investments across US private debt and equity, has sold a minority stake to Pinnacle Investment Management Group

Fidelity Investments buys Fidelity International’s European CLO platform
Life has become a little simpler for CLO investors, as the two different Fidelity CLO platforms combine into one manager

Trump victory raises hopes for high yield markets, M&A revival
Leverage finance markets cheered Donald Trump’s win on the prospect the former president’s return to the White House will unleash deregulation and M&A, lower taxes and higher economy growth