20 September 2022
Ninety One has announced that it has raised €130 million for the first close of the Ninety One European Credit Opportunities Fund I (the “Fund”). Managed by Co-Portfolio Managers Chris Rust and Lei Lei, the Fund provides flexible private debt financing to medium sized performing borrowers across Europe. Through a diverse portfolio of secured loans directly originated from mainly non-private equity owned “sponsorless” borrowers, the Fund aims to provide investors with a differentiated alternative credit product.
First close investors in the Fund have been attracted by its focus on the less crowded sponsorless borrower market and emphasis on downside protection. The Fund has received commitments from a broad range of high quality institutional and sophisticated private investors from the UK, Europe, Latin America, and South Africa. This is an important milestone in the continued buildout of Ninety One’s alternative credit platform, providing clients with high quality credit solutions that help them achieve their long-term investment goals. The Fund is targeting a second close in Q4 2022 and a final close in H1 2023.
Chris Rust and Lei Lei, Co-Portfolio Managers, Ninety One: “The successful first close of the European Credit Opportunities Fund demonstrates the desire by clients to diversify their portfolios whilst also achieving income requirements. Furthermore, our deal origination pipeline continues to grow as demand for alternative credit from European SME borrowers accelerates in the context of ongoing bank retrenchment and economic uncertainty. For those borrowers that are too small to access the capital markets and do not want to raise dilutive equity, our Fund can offer an attractive funding alternative.”