Marathon closes third ABL fund on $1.7bn

Marathon Asset Management held a final close of its third asset-based lending fund on $1.7 billion, exceeding its target of $1.25 billion. 

Marathon Secured Private Strategies Fund III was launched in March 2022, and by its second close in February of this year it had already passed its target.  

Fund III, which has investors both among institutions and high-net-worth individuals, is the third vintage of Marathon’s closed-end asset-based lending fund. Its precursor, Fund II, launched in 2018 and closed in 2020 on $896.1 million, according to Private Debt Investor data.  

The two funds have much in common. According to PDI research, both funds have a hurdle rate of 8 percent and a carry of 20 percent. Both funds have a duration of three years and a six-year investment period.  

The investment styles are also quite similar: Fund III, like Fund II, focuses on asset-based lending.

In the statement announcing the close of Secured Private Strategies Fund III, Bruce Richards, Marathon chairman and chief executive, said, “It’s the Golden Era of Credit, and the talented men and women who represent our extraordinary team are energized to think creatively, work diligently, and invest wisely on behalf of our limited partners.” 

New York-based Marathon, has more than $20 billion in capital under management. It was founded in 1998 by Richards and Louis Hanover (CIO). At present, Marathon has two distressed funds also in the market: the Goldrich Fund (2022) and the Distressed Credit Fund II (2023).  

The firm’s ABL strategy employs both loan origination and the opportunities of the secondary markets, and looks for undercapitalized financial institutions that are trying to improve their own financial condition through asset sales.