Golub Capital non-traded BDC breaks escrow

Golub Capital Private Credit Fund, a non-traded business development company, broke escrow on 30 June 2023 with about $650 million in net proceeds.  

The statement announcing this development quotes Tom Burt, managing director and head of intermediary wealth solutions at Golub Capital: “We are seeing tremendous interest from private wealth investors in accessing Golub Capital’s private credit expertise and the success of the GCRED private offering reflects that.”  

Golub said it expects that GCRED will benefit from Golub Capital’s leading US debt platform, proprietary deal flow, disciplined underwriting process and experienced management team. GCRED will look to generate current income and capital appreciation, chiefly by lending to US private companies in the mid-market and upper-mid-market, with senior secured loans. 

Golub’s recent history 

It is worth noting that Golub partnered with iCapital, a fintech platform for wealth managers, in March 2022. The following June, Tom Burt, formerly of Nuveen Investments, joined Golub as the head of its intermediary wealth solutions team, specifically to help with Golub’s growth in this direction. The partnership with iCapital may now assist Burt’s team in offering private credit strategies to wealth managers.  

Private Debt Investor has named Golub Capital Lender of the Decade, Americas, and Senior Lender of the Decade, Americas. Golub stands out in part because it has been the market leader in unitranches of more than $500 million, with what it says are the reliability and scalability that such “mega one-stops” offer to sponsors.  

Golub’s recognition as senior lender in the Americas owes much to its role as the sole lead arranger in a $950 million financing package when E2open (a software service provider) took Amber Road private, in May 2019.   

PDI has also designated the president of the company, David Golub, as one of 30 top changemakers driving the development of private credit as an asset class. It has recognized that Golub helped correct poor manager-investor alignment in BDC fee structures with his early adoption of an indefinite lookback that capped incentive fees. He also adopted an 8 percent hurdle rate, which is higher than many other BDCs, again with the goal of aligning incentives.  

At the start of Q2 2023, Golub Capital had more than 800 employees and $60 billion plus in capital under management.