Muzinich beats target with €706m for pan-European debt

Credit-focused assets manager Muzinich & Co has closed its first pan-European private debt fund above target on €706.5 million.

The Muzinich Pan-European Private Debt Fund held a first close in May 2017 at €180 million with a €500 million target. It attracted both new and existing LPs from the European pensions and insurance sectors.

The firm has previously raised funds with a specific country or regional focus. It has four other private debt vehicles in its stable focused on France, Italy, the UK and Iberia, respectively.

Its latest fund will invest across western Europe with a focus on lower mid-market companies with EBITDA of between €2 million and €20 million. It will provide capital to support growth, acquisition, expansion and transition.

Loans will have terms of between five and eight years and the fund has an eight-year investment period plus options for extension. Approximately 30 percent of the fund has already been deployed and the vehicle will be aiming to invest in 25 portfolio companies. It is targeting an IRR of 8-10 percent.

Kirsten Bode, co-head of private debt at Muzinich & Co, said: “We believe our offering – as one of the very few pan-European private lenders in the lower mid-market – gives us an advantage in accessing a broad range of investment opportunities in seeking to generate attractive IRRs for our investors.”

Muzinich & Co has a team of 27 private debt professionals located in offices across eight different countries to help source opportunities locally.