Oaktree Capital Management has teamed up with Pantheon to support the expansion of its European direct lending strategy, targeting €1bn (£866.9m) of investable capital.
According to the firms, the partnership establishes a dedicated pool of capital for Oaktree’s European Direct Lending (EDL) strategy and marks the launch of the strategy as a standalone offering within Oaktree’s platform.
The partnership combines a seeded portfolio of existing European direct lending investments with investable capital from London-headquartered Pantheon, which manages $85bn (£63.5bn) in assets. Assets within the seed portfolio comprise investments from Oaktree-managed vehicles, alongside a portion of existing holdings within Oaktree’s EDL strategy, the firms said.
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Oaktree’s EDL strategy focuses on first-lien senior secured private loans to European companies, with the partnership with Pantheon having the capacity to grow to €1bn in investable capital, the firms explained.
“We are pleased to partner with Pantheon to launch our European Direct Lending strategy at scale,” said Nael Khatoun, portfolio manager at Oaktree European Private Debt. “As the European direct lending market continues to mature, we believe there is a large and attractive opportunity that continues to offer meaningful long-term growth potential.”
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Los Angeles-headquartered Oaktree, which manages $223bn in assets under management, said the partnership would be the first of several dedicated pools of capital for European direct lending investments.
“By combining a high-quality seeded portfolio with committed capital for new investments, this partnership demonstrates our ability to provide structured capital at scale,” said Toni Vainio, partner and head of European private credit at Pantheon.
