Kansas authorises $60m commitment to Apollo

The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System’s Board of Trustees approved a $60 million commitment to Apollo Investment Fund VIII at its meeting last week, communications officer Kristen Basso told Private Debt Investor.

Apollo is targeting $12 billion for Fund VII, which will invest in opportunistic buyouts, corporate carve-out transactions and distressed investments, according to Oregon Investment Council documents.

Kansas’ $14.4 billion retirement system had previously committed $25 million to Fund VIII’s predecessor, which had generated a net IRR of 25 percent and a net multiple of 1.47x as of 31 December, according to Oregon.

“The firm’s deep resources and experience in credit markets and strategies allow it to opportunistically capture value from distressed situations,” according to Oregon, which committed $300 million to the vehicle earlier this month. “Examples include gaining equity control of a troubled company via investments in its distressed debt, non-control oriented investments in distressed debt, or purchasing the debt of their existing portfolio companies at substantial discounts during market dislocations.”

Kansas had $779 million committed to private equity as of 31 March. The private equity portfolio was 44.8 percent committed to buyout funds, 27 percent committed to special situations and 22.2 percent committed to venture/growth vehicles, according to retirement system documents.