Debtwire announced the winners of their inaugural European Direct Lending Awards last night, with trophies going to Ares, Blackstone and Eurazeo. The awards, handed out after the Debtwire Direct Lending Forum 2022 in London, were split between mid-market and large-cap direct lenders, and including categories for both the best performing funds and the most active managers.
Although current market conditions are challenging the direct lending space continues to attract large amounts of capital, and deals. According to Debtwire Par, just under 900 direct lending deals and investments were made across Europe in 2021, and Creditflux reported that 2021 fundraising for European direct lending funds swelled to €36 billion.
The activity was reflected in these awards, with submissions received from nearly 30 funds from 15 managers. All funds and deals under consideration were submitted in the last few weeks, with finalists being chosen purely on analysis of the underlying data.
Recordings from the rest of the event are available on-demand here.
