SMBC launches €450m European middle market credit fund
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has launched its first private credit fund with €450m (£379m) raised from a diverse pool of investors.
It signals an expansion of SMBC’s business beyond Japan, as the firm seeks to focus on a range of alternative credit asset classes globally.
The European Middle Market Credit Fund was created following the secondary purchase of a strip of investments held on SMBC Group’s balance sheet. It includes a seed portfolio of “high-quality, performing loans”, the company said.
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The deal was led by Pantheon’s private credit secondaries business.
The fund will focus on direct, senior-secured loan investments to middle-market private equity-backed businesses in Europe.
It will invest alongside SMBC Group’s existing balance sheet-driven private credit business, including its joint venture programme with Park Square Capital.
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“The fund is an important step in the development of our private credit business in Europe and complements well the range of financing solutions we can offer private equity backed companies in the middle market,” said Dan Matthews, head of EMEA leveraged finance at SMBC Group.
The fund’s backers include secondary and strategic investors in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management is also an investor in the fund.
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