US private credit manager Kennedy Lewis and Bank of Ireland have formed a €2bn (£1.7bn) partnership to finance European mid-market buyouts.
The firms said the partnership will focus on originating and jointly deploying bank-led financing solutions for European mid-market private equity sponsors across bilateral, club and syndicated loan structures.
Kennedy Lewis has committed €2bn to support the partnership’s activity over the next three years, complementing the Bank of Ireland’s existing acquisition finance business.
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“This partnership enhances our ability to provide attractive alternative financing solutions to sponsors and enables both institutions to support a significantly enhanced product proposition,” said Michael Lauhoff, head of specialist banking at Bank of Ireland. “Kennedy Lewis is an ideal partner, sharing our values and bringing deep expertise in mid-market transactions from the US. We see this as the beginning of a long and successful relationship.”
The partnership will leverage the Bank of Ireland’s European leveraged finance platform alongside Kennedy Lewis’s flexible capital base, with the US-based multi-strategy private credit manager oversees more than $32bn (£23.9bn) in assets under management.
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“This partnership will provide Bank of Ireland clients with an expanded one-stop shop for debt solutions that offer flexibility, certainty and speed,” said Doug Logigan, president and co-managing partner at Kennedy Lewis. “Kennedy Lewis investors will gain exclusive access to differentiated deal flow from a partner that is deeply aligned with our investment philosophy and culture of risk management.”
Bank of Ireland was advised by PwC Corporate Finance and Linklaters, while Kennedy Lewis was advised by Akin Gump and Walkers Ireland.
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