Sixth Street BDC holds first close near $4.5bn target

Sixth Street’s second business development company, Sixth Street Lending (SSL), is approaching its $4.5 billion target after a year on the road, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The BDC launched in June 2022 and held a first close on $4.28 billion 12 months later.

SSL has received investments from a number of public pensions, including the State of Michigan Retirement Systems and the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS), according to Private Debt Investor data. The two US pensions made commitments of $500 million and $250 million, respectively.

PSERS has a longstanding relationship with Sixth Street. In total the pension fund has committed $1.7 billion to funds managed by Sixth Street, as PDI reported earlier this year.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending is a San Francisco-based alternative asset manager that describes itself as a “speciality finance company focused on providing flexible, fully committed financing solutions to mid-market companies principally located in the US”.

A spokesperson declined to comment on this fund, as fundraising is still under way.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending launched its first BDC in 2011, a year after the firm was founded. The target size for the latest vehicle would make it three times the size of its precursor, which closed, also in 2011, on $1.5 billion.

Sixth Street has other funds in the market with a variety of different strategies, such as Sixth Street Opportunities Professionals V (distressed), Sixth Street Growth Equity V (venture debt) and Sixth Street CMS Dynamic Credit Fund (collateralised loan obligations).

Sixth Street’s SEC filing listed several executive officers of the fund, without specifying their titles. They include co-founders Joshua Easterly and David Stiepleman, and Jennifer Gordon. Gordon has been with Sixth Street for 12 years, and all three executives previously worked at Goldman Sachs.