Ares, Eurazeo and Goldman top European direct lender rankings
Ares, Eurazeo and Goldman Sachs were the largest European direct lenders in the first half of 2024, according to Reorg’s latest rankings data.
Ares held onto the top spot, completing 36 deals and holding a seven per cent share of the market.
Eurazeo retained its second place with 26 deals and a 5.1 per cent market share.
Goldman Sachs Private Credit was a new entrant to the top three, completing 25 deals over the period and holding a 4.9 per cent share of the market.
Read more: AllianceBernstein: Direct lending returns will stay high despite base rate cuts
Goldman Sachs Private Credit was the most active lender for facilities above €250m (£210m), completing 23 deals in the first half of 2024. Ares came in second with 14 deals, while Apollo ranked third with 11 deals.
Eurazeo narrowly overtook Ares for deals below €250m, with 23 deals versus Ares’ 22 deals. Barings Private Debt retained third place with 16 deals.
Read more: Goldman Sachs: Investors are under-allocated to private credit
Overall European direct lending activity for the first half of 2024 totalled 358 deals, up from 326 deals in the first half of 2023. Lower mid-market deals continued to make up the lion’s share of the market (75.1 per cent).
The second quarter of 2024 saw the highest quarterly volume of deals in 18 months – with 211 transactions made – up from 147 deals in the first quarter of the year.
There were signs of a recovery in the M&A market as lenders’ appetite for larger deals has increased, with buy-outs exceeding bolt-on acquisitions, at 34.6 per cent versus 33.8 per cent.
Refinancings remained the third most popular use of financing, accounting for 16.5 per cent, followed by capex/growth at 10.1 per cent.
Direct lending makes up the majority of the private credit sector, but firms are facing increasing competition from banks at the upper end of the market.
AllianceBernstein’s head of private alternatives Matthew Bass recently said that investors should consider opportunities outside of direct lending such as asset-based finance to diversify their private credit portfolios.
