Alcentra closed its latest European direct lending fund, Alcentra European Direct Lending Fund II, at €4.3 billion ($4.6 billion), above its fundraising target, said a spokesman.
The focus of the fund is primarily focused on first lien debt and companies in Northern and Western Europe, he added.
Alcentra's first European direct lending fund closed at €850 million in 2014.
“Banks have had to increasingly focus on improving their capital ratios and as a result have been unable to lend to businesses to the extent they used to. This has created the opportunity for investment managers with credit and structuring expertise to provide financing to quality businesses,” said Graeme Delaney-Smith, managing director and head of European direct lending for Alcentra, in a news release.
Investors in the fund include the £18.7 billion ($23 billion) Strathclyde Pension Fund, Glasgow, Scotland; $13.9 billion Orange County Employees Retirement System, Santa Ana, Calif.; $7.7 billion New Hampshire Retirement System, Concord; and the $1 billion Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, Oklahoma City.
The spokesman confirmed that a “significant majority of the investors are global pension funds.”
The global money management firm has $31 billion in assets under management and is part of BNY Mellon Investment Management.
