European credit specialist AlbaCore Capital Group has raised $1.8bn (£1.4bn) at the first close of its new senior direct lending strategy, with anchor investments from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (the Trust Bank).
AlbaCore said the strategy will primarily focus on the upper-mid to large cap European market.
“Securing commitments from ADIA and the Trust Bank for the first vintage of our senior direct lending strategy is a testament to the attractiveness of the opportunity set in the market and how well positioned AlbaCore is to take advantage of it,” said David Allen, managing partner and chief investment officer at AlbaCore.
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AlbaCore manages $9bn of assets across private capital solutions, opportunistic and dislocated credit, CLOs, and structured products.
Hamad Shahwan AlDhaheri, executive director of the private equities department at ADIA, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, said: “This anchor commitment presented the opportunity to grow our existing relationship with AlbaCore, which has established itself as a leading specialist European credit manager. AlbaCore’s senior direct lending strategy is well placed to address the significant and growing demand from European corporates for private credit solutions.”
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Takafumi Ihara, chief executive, asset management and investor services business unit at the Trust Bank, added: “We are excited to support the strategy through this anchor investment. This strategic initiative aligns with that of our global asset management business, which is to expand our private product competitiveness globally in the direct lending space.”
The launch of the new strategy comes after AlbaCore yesterday announced the successful pricing of its seventh collateralised loan obligation at €406.5m (£340m).
