Direct lending activity in Europe reached an all-time high in the second quarter of the year, with Ares Management becoming the most active investor over the period, according to Debtwire.
A number of large-ticket deals pushed the volumes up to €36.7bn (£31.6bn) over the period, across 305 deals, up 89 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, from the first quarter.
These included the €6.5bn refinancing of Adevinta’s unitranche loan, and Constellation Automotive’s refinancing of its £1.8bn debt.
Read more: Institutional lending nears record levels in Q1
Healthcare saw the most deals in the second quarter, accounting for around €3bn of volumes, followed by financial institutions at €2.9bn.
Ares, Blackstone Credit and Goldman Sachs were the top three lenders over the first half of the year, registering a total of 65 deals, not including add-on deals. When including add-on deals, the three were still top of the chart with a total 112 deals, although Goldman Sachs came in second and Blackstone third.
Ares previously topped the direct lender rankings in 2024 and 2023.
Read more: Ares tops European direct lender rankings
During the first half, UK and Ireland registered 179 deals, followed by France with 100 deals and DACH with 91 deals. The rest of Europe saw a total of 197 deals over the period.
Although direct lenders seem to have gained some ground versus the institutional loan and high-yield bond markets, these continued to see a higher volume of issuance at €98bn in the second quarter.
Read more: European direct lending deal volume drops as BSL market recovers
