US insurer Aflac purchases minority stake in direct lender Varagon
Varagon Capital Partners has sold a non-controlling, minority stake of the firm to Aflac Global Investments, the asset management division of US insurance company Aflac Incorporated

Goldman Sachs AM merges public and private BDC
Goldman Sachs Asset Management has merged two of its business development companies: Goldman Sachs BDC, a $1.54 billion publicly traded BDC, and private BDC Goldman Sachs Middle Market Lending Corporation, which has $1.7 billion assets

First Eagle buys US CLO manager THL Credit
Two years after establishing its credit business with the acquisition of NewStar Financial, First Eagle Investment Management is aiming big again after striking a deal to buy THL Credit Advisors

Azimut hires ex-Dyal official as it aims to buy minority equity in asset managers
Azimut will initially focus on acquiring minority stakes in alternative asset managers with under $3 billion AUM – including private credit, private equity, infrastructure and real estate firms

Dyal buys 20% stake in direct lender Owl Rock
Neuberger Berman’s Dyal Capital Partners has acquired a 20% stake in direct lender Owl Rock Capital, adding to the roster of private credit specialists Dyal has in its portfolio

US direct lender Capitala sells minority stake to Mitsui
Mitsui USA has bought a minority stake in the direct lender, which provides financing to lower middle market companies

Medley BDC finds no "superior proposal" to merger plans after go-shop process
Medley Capital Corporation (MCC) has not found a “superior proposal” for its plans to merge with another Medley-managed business development company and instead recommends that shareholders vote for its amended agreement.

CarVal’s independence backed by five-year Cargill loan
CarVal Investors’ management buy-out from parent company Cargill will be financed with a five-year term loan from Cargill alongside equity contributions by management, documents seen by Creditflux reveal.

EQT looks to raise €500 million via IPO
The initial public offering is anticipated to increase EQT's flexbility to “pursue growth opportunities” and expand its private market investing business

Crescent BDC buys Alcentra BDC in $141.9 million transaction
As part of the deal, the combined business development company will go public and charge lower management fees

Assured Guaranty to buy BlueMountain for $160 million
Assured Guaranty has agreed to buy BlueMountain Capital Management, as well as its associated entities, for $160 million

BDC consolidation continues with Oak Hill and BC Partners-affiliate merger
The consolidation of US business development companies continues... this time, with the merger of OHA Investment Corporation and Portman Ridge Finance Corporation

Investcorp enters into mid-market lending with CM Investment acquisition
Investcorp Credit Management announced today that it has bought CM Investment Partners from Cyrus Capital and Stifel Venture

Morningstar eyes credit rating expansion as it announces DBRS acquisition
Morningstar today announced it has entered an agreement to acquire DBRS for $669 million, according to a statement from the firm

Investcorp adds fund placement business as it brings Mercury buyout to the boil
The transaction for the alternatives placement agent will help “serve investors worldwide with an array of attractive opportunities in alternative investments”, says Investcorp

Atalaya purchases Telos CLO business
Atalaya expands into CLOs to compliment existing private credit platform

Prospect's $500 million CLO fund merges with Stira Alcentra global credit fund
Prospect Capital Management’s $500 million closed-end CLO fund has officially merged with a global credit fund managed by Alcentra and Stira

Jefferies subsidiary and Stonyrock plan mid-market alternative manager stake acquisitions
The new joint venture will invest in private equity, credit, hedge funds, real estate, venture, and infrastructure firms

Medley signs agreement with activist shareholder over three-way merger
The Medley saga continues...two board of directors have been appointed and several ammendments have been made to the merger agreement

Moving on from the late 2018 hangover
It might be too early to call a full recovery, but it’s fair to say that the US loan market is back on track with $48 billion of institutional issuance in 2019 — 88% of which is made up of new issues

Now the drugs don’t work, they just make you worse

Fiera buys private credit and real estate specialist in $74 million deal
The transaction will add $3.1 billion of assets under management to Fiera Capital Corporation 

US CLO manager JMP Credit rebrands following majority acquisition by Medalist
Medalist has bought a majority stake in the US CLO manager from a subsidiary of JMP Group

Brookfield strikes deal to buy 62% stake in Oaktree
Brookfield Asset Management has agreed to buy a 62% stake in Oaktree Capital Management in a move which will lead to the creation of one of the largest asset managers in the business.

Marathon proposes alternative to long-running Medley BDC merger dispute
Marathon has joined the race to take on two business development companies managed by Medley