(Bloomberg) – Apollo Global Management Inc. has launched a new direct lending platform that gives retail investors access to large business loans, making it the latest non-bank lender to try to take advantage of demand growing private credit.
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The business development firm, called Apollo Debt Solutions, manages more than $ 1 billion in assets, according to a company statement seen by Bloomberg. The launch follows the investment giant’s purchase of the wealth distribution and asset management businesses of Los Angeles-based Griffin Capital last month.
“Individual investors have long been under-allocated to alternatives, and we believe this strong initial fundraising for ADS demonstrates the pent-up demand from investors and their wealth advisers for such strategies,” said Stephanie Drescher, responsible for customer and product development for Apollo. officer.
Apollo is one of several direct lenders looking to tap into different pockets of private credit demand beyond institutional investors. Private credit fundraising hit a record $ 195 billion last year, according to data from research firm Preqin Ltd., as investors seek higher returns. Direct lending funds, including senior, unitranche, junior and opportunistic strategies, attracted the most liquidity.
Blue Owl Capital Inc. is targeting high net worth investors in Canada for one of its US mid-market funds, while Blackstone Inc. and Carlyle Group Inc. have also offered products that allow individuals to invest in corporate loans of average size that banks have gained. t touch.
Read more: Private Equity Firms Want Wealthy Investors to Embrace Risky Credit
As the private credit market has grown, so has the size of loans that the larger players can offer.
Apollo agreed last month to provide a $ 4 billion loan to SoftBank Group Corp., the largest such deal in the private credit market. In 2019, he also supported the purchase of Gannett Co. by New Media Investment Group with a loan of $ 1.8 billion, and in 2020 pledged to lend approximately $ 12 billion over a three-year period. via a new private credit platform intended for large companies.
The new non-traded Apollo BDC, which will operate as part of the company’s global wealth management business, has raised $ 657 million in net proceeds from the sale of 26.2 million shares and will continue to sell shares on a monthly basis.
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