BlackRock’ has held the first close of the European Middle Market Private Debt Fund II, its European direct lending strategy, with EUR1.5billion in commitments – including segregated mandates.
The fund is managed by Stephan Caron.
The first close of EMMPD II has surpassed the final close of the previous fund (EMMPD I). The Fund has received commitments of EUR1.2 billion with a further EUR300 million in segregated mandates equating to EUR1.5 billion from 24 investors since its launch in June. The previous strategy held its final close at EUR1.1 billion, excluding separate accounts
The fund has received commitments from both new investors and existing EMMPD clients, highlighting the strategy’s relevance as clients seek to diversify their investment portfolios.The diverse investor base includes many of Europe’s largest and most sophisticated institutional investors.
The fund focuses on relatively low risk, primarily first lien loans to strongly-performing European mid-market companies in defensive industries such as healthcare, business services and software/technology. This has helped to place the strategy in an attractive position to deliver on investor requirements, in particular, for those who are concerned about the credit cycle and who are seeking relatively low risk allocations in the space.
The fund has an established local presence and strong reputation within the key European Private Debt markets and is continuously constructing a well-diversified portfolio for its strategy.
