Lender of the Year

Arcmont Asset Management

Arcmont Asset Management, one of the largest private debt firms in Europe, has been a historic pioneer in the UK direct lending landscape and has remained an active lender to the private equity industry, with the UK being our largest lending market since inception. Arcmont has provided financing to the UK market for over a decade which remains a key focus and cornerstone of the firm’s success, leveraging relationships with leading GPs in the UK. 

In January, Arcmont closed the fourth vintage of the Direct Lending strategy and associated vehicles, attracting a total investable capital of €10 billion and bringing Arcmont’s overall capital raised to €29bn. It now represents one of the largest Direct Lending funds ever raised in Europe and, like with Arcmont’s previous funds, a significant portion of this will be used as a flexible source of capital for companies throughout the UK. 

In June, Arcmont received approval from the FCA for a Long Term Asset Fund (LTAF). This is the first LTAF offered by a specialist Private Debt asset manager. Through the LTAF, a wide range of investors, including UK Defined Contribution schemes, will be offered an opportunity to enhance portfolio diversification via exposure to Private Debt.

Ares Management

Ares Management (“Ares”) believes its European Direct Lending (“EDL”) strategy’s scaled capital, together with its extensive 17-year track record, makes Ares a reliable, supportive and innovative financing partner. We believe our ability to structure large and tailored commitments, including flexible follow-on capital, offers significant differentiation. As evidenced by the investment team’s extensive network of longstanding relationships developed over decades, Ares EDL believes that borrowers recognize the value of this deliverability from a long-term cycle-tested partner, particularly during times of market dislocation and macroeconomic uncertainty. 

As of March 31, 2024, the Investment Team of ~90 professionals (the “team”), of which over half are based in London, had reviewed more than 10,500 opportunities and closed 357 primary transactions (~3% completion rate). Over 200 of these investments since the inception of the EDL strategy in 2007 have been in UK-headquartered companies, representing ~€40.1 billion of total commitments. Ares EDL believes that the wealth of historical information across all opportunities reviewed since inception represents a meaningful differentiation in the marketplace, as does the team’s focus on maintaining discipline in its investments decisions and remaining highly selective.

HSBC UK Bank

HSBC’s relationship focus and commitment to supporting fast growing UK companies and the Sponsors investing in them, has ensured the LTM has been hugely successful; 

• Supported 126 UK transactions (+20% YoY) and deployed £1.9bn of new lending (+23.0%). This included 40 transactions (+42%) that were new relationships to HSBC (£700m of new lending). 
• Increased the market-leading bank position having provided debt facilities on 63% of the senior-only bank transactions and 22% of the whole UK Leveraged Finance market (LTM), according to the Houlihan Lokey-DC market trackers. 
• HSBC continue to innovate and evolve the core lending offering; HSBC have added a Private Credit and Senior Secured-Super Senior financing proposition to offer increased flexibility across Sponsor backed financings. 
• Continued success of the HSBC Debt Fund with 10 additional completions in the LTM. Now with increased cumulative hold capacity of up to £100.0m under a ‘one-bank’ solution. 
• HSBC has continued to drive increased focus on sustainability and successfully completed our first SLL financing conversion through HSBC’s bespoke SLL conversion language; 7 additional transactions completed including this mechanism. 
• 50% of new hires in the HSBC Leverage Finance team were from minority backgrounds and/or female; 32% of workforce are female & 25% are from minority backgrounds.

Investec

Investec has successfully navigated through a year marked by high inflation and high interest rates. Investec demonstrated its resilience by completing 353 transactions, totalling £10.2bn for Private Equity (PE) funds and PE-backed businesses. Our extensive range of products, including Subscription, GP-led, NAV, GP Financing, Leveraged Finance and Asset-Based Lending, offers our clients a comprehensive selection tailored to meet their unique requirements. 

Our team has over 15 years of experience supporting the UK PE sector and grew from 77 to 83 members during the last year. The team’s depth of knowledge and expertise allows us to deliver exceptional service and outstanding results for our clients. We take pride in our commitment to gender diversity, with women representing 40% of our team. 

Despite high interest rates affecting borrower demand for debt, Investec's team has remained dedicated, increasing the number of completed transactions from 306 to 353 over the last year. Our solutions are crafted to support the fund, management team and portfolio companies throughout their entire lifecycle, ensuring our clients have the support they need to thrive.

Voting Closed

To find out who won, book a table at the Mergermarket British Private Equity Awards on 01 October 2024, by contacting Chris Coe.