Crescent Capital Raises $1.7 Billion for European Private Credit

(Bloomberg) -- Investment firm Crescent Capital Group has raised 1.6 billion euros ($1.74 billion) for its second European private credit fund, beating an initial target of 1 billion euros, according to a statement.

The Los Angeles-based firm, co-founded by Mark Attanasio, raised the capital from institutional investors including pension funds and endowments. It will be invested in private debt securities issued by European companies. Around 400 million euros have already been deployed by the fund across 12 investments, the company said.

While the coronavirus is likely to slow fundraising, with face-to-face meetings and due diligence put on hold, the industry continues to raise multi-billion funds. GSO Capital Partners closed a $4.5 billion European senior debt fund in March, while in the U.S. Churchill Asset Management raised $2 billion for a new middle-market loan fund.

Crescent Capital’s second private credit fund is three times larger than its predecessor, which closed in December 2015 with 500 million euros of commitments from institutional investors.

Recent deals completed by the firm in Europe include a debt facility to back Bencis Capital’s acquisition of Highcare and a unitranche to support the acquisition of CityDoc by European LifeCare Group.

The investment firm manages around $28 billion in assets with a focus on sub-investment grade debt including high-yield bonds, distressed debt and private credit.

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