Apollo Global Management has increased the size of its net asset value (NAV) loan to SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 to $5.4bn, in what is now the largest known NAV-backed facility to date, according to a report by Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter.
The facility – originally structured in late 2021 and refinanced earlier this year – was upsized by $900m, reflecting growing institutional demand for NAV-based structures and Apollo’s rising dominance in the space.
The deal is secured against a diversified portfolio of over 150 tech investments, including a reported $2.2bn stake in OpenAI.
Sources said the loan represents a low-teens percentage of the net asset value of the Vision Fund 2 portfolio. Proceeds from the facility are expected to flow back to the fund’s stakeholders – in this case, SoftBank Group and founder Masayoshi Son.
The SoftBank transaction underscores Apollo’s scale and ambition in NAV lending, a fast-growing segment of private credit. The New York-based manager has become a major player in the space, leveraging the balance sheet of its insurance platform Athene to deploy capital into investment-grade, yield-enhanced structures.
According to a person familiar with the matter, the SoftBank loan carries an investment-grade rating and is being held in Apollo’s insurance portfolios, aligning with regulatory capital requirements and insurer demand for high-quality, floating-rate assets.
The broader NAV loan market is estimated to be valued at approximately $150bn, with projections suggesting the market could double by the end of 2026, according to figures from Fund Finance Partners.
Spokespeople for Apollo and SoftBank declined to comment on the deal.
