Crescent Capital Group, an alternative credit investment firm, has held the final closing of its second European specialty lending fund, Crescent European Specialty Lending Fund II (CESL II), with total limited partner equity commitments of approximately EUR1.6 billion. The fund has both levered and unlevered sleeves.
CESL II was meaningfully oversubscribed, exceeding its initial target of EUR1 billion as well as its initial hard cap. This fundraise represents a significant increase from its predecessor fund, Crescent European Specialty Lending Fund I (CESL I), which announced its final close in December 2015 at EUR500 million of LP capital commitments.
CESL II attracted a diverse mix of international institutional investors including leading global pension funds, insurance companies, financial institutions, foundations, and endowments.
CESL II will continue Crescent’s strategy of investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of private secured debt securities issued by European companies, with a focus on directly-originated transactions. To date, CESL II has committed approximately EUR400 million across 12 investments.
“The growth in the acceptance of Crescent’s European Specialty Lending strategy is a signal of our consistent and strong performance as well as a testament to the team’s ability to source transactions through our extensive relationship network,” says Christine Vanden Beukel, Managing Director and Head of Crescent’s European Specialty Lending Strategy. “We appreciate our returning and new investors’ confidence in Crescent’s platform to execute on this opportunity.”
“Throughout our long history, making private capital investments has been a significant part of Crescent’s platform as we seek the best risk-adjusted returns for our clients,” says Jean-Marc Chapus, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Crescent Capital Group. “Crescent has committed the resources to have multinational investment professionals to source, underwrite and collaborate with some of the leading sponsors and family-owned businesses to realise their business objectives.”
Crescent has a track record for investments in below investment grade debt that dates to its founding in 1991 and has been investing in Europe since 1993. To date, Crescent has committed more than EUR1 billion across more than 30 investments in Europe.
