Crescent Capital Group has raised $3.2bn for a continuation vehicle, marking the largest fundraise to date for a strategy focused on private credit secondaries, according to a report by Bloomberg. The fund will allow the manager to hold selected credit assets for longer amid a slower dealmaking environment.
The vehicle acquired a loan portfolio from Crescent Mezzanine Partners VII, a 2016 vintage fund.
London-based Pantheon Ventures led the transaction, with Allianz Global Investors acting as co-lead investor. Other participants included Hamilton Lane, Dawson Partners, Antares Capital and credit secondaries funds managed by Ares.
Secondary transaction volumes across private markets rose 41% to a record $226bn last year, according to market data, with private credit secondaries nearly doubling to $20bn from about $10.7bn in 2024, as managers increasingly turned to the secondaries market to generate liquidity.
The expansion of the secondaries market is tracking the rapid growth of private credit, which has expanded to around $1.7tn in assets in recent years. This month Ares raised $7.1bn for its first private credit secondaries strategy, while Coller Capital closed $6.8bn for its second fund focused on the segment and HarbourVest Partners launched two dedicated vehicles.
