ICG launches three debt funds

Alternative manager Intermediate Capital Group has launched three successor debt funds, according to an interim management statement for the six months to 30 September. All three have recently launched, a source with knowledge of the situation said.

The firm has launched a successor fund to ICG Longbow Fund III, a UK commercial real estate debt fund.

A new European mezzanine fund ICG Europe Fund VI, understood to be targeting around €2.5 billion, and a second direct lending fund, successor to Senior Debt Partners I which closed on its hard cap of €1.7 billion in April this year, has also come to market, as previously reported by PDI. Targets were undisclosed.

Separately, ICG is marketing another six funds targeting first time strategies for the manager. Those strategies include a Japan fund, a US debt fund, an Alternative Credit fund, an Australian loans fund, a Total Credit and Longbow Development fund. The group said it is also looking at a private equity secondaries investment strategy.

ICG declined to comment beyond the statement.

Christophe Evain, chief executive of ICG, said in the statement: “Our strategy to deepen and selectively expand our range of strategies is aided by this market momentum but we are remaining disciplined in our pursuit of growth opportunities. We are marketing six new funds and have launched three successor funds, and we continue to deploy capital at our target rate, whilst maintaining our traditional credit discipline.”

Profits have halved at ICG with reported group profit before tax of £85 million (€106.5 million; $133.2 million) in the six months ended 30 September 2014, down from £155 million from the first half of 2014. Of those profits, £58 million came from the investment company and £27 million from the fund management company. The sizeable drop was as a result of the realisation of Allflex, a producer of animal identification tags, the group’s largest investment in H1 2014 called.

Total assets under management rose 6 percent to €13.7 billion, following €1.7 billion of new money raised.