Anthilia

During 2022 Anthilia’s Private Debt division set a new record of invested amount, exceeding € 125 mln into 18 companies. The LBO related to the acquisition of PPM Industries - a leading european masking tape producer - by the German Private Equity Fund Auctus Capital Partners Gmbh stands out as the AM’s 2022 main deal. Anthilia acted as sole investor to cover the € 19 mln debt ticket, structuring a complex transaction characterized by multiple HoldCo vehicles created ad hoc and implying a reverse merger, in a delicate context of generational change. Anthilia, chosen as debt partner in light of its sound relationship with the Sponsor, was able to design a flexible and tailor made financial solution including bullet repayment, 6+ years maturity and a combined PIK and cash interest rate structure, aimed at supporting both the acquisition and the post-closing working capital needs of the target company. 

Apera

Since commencing investment in 2017, Apera has established itself as a preeminent senior secured lender in the European lower mid-market (LMM).  

In July 2022, Apera closed Fund II raising total investible capital of €1.27bn, far exceeding both our initial target of €800m, and our Fund I total of €750. We received strong support from existing and new investors, including pension funds, insurers and endowments from Europe, North America and Asia. For our investors, we provide access to an attractive market segment with a strong structural focus on downside protection and superior risk adjusted returns. 

Apera achieved a strong pace of deployment in 2022, with Fund II close to fully invested as of final close. Across the Apera platform in 2022 we completed 14 deals (excluding add-ons) while retaining a high degree of selectivity, completing <5% of deals that enter our pipeline. 

Cordet

CORDET is an alternative credit investor that provides bespoke and scalable financing solutions to smaller mid-market companies in Northern Europe. 2022 marked another successful year for CORDET: 

In a challenging market environment, deal activity levels stayed high with 16 transactions completed, including our first investment in the Netherlands. We provided capital to both new borrowers and existing portfolio companies, primarily to finance acquisitions or other growth initiatives. We remain committed to enabling transformational growth for our investee companies and are a trusted partner, even in volatile times.

In our strive for continuous improvement, we made additional progress on ESG and D&I topics. Throughout 2022, we continued our quarterly, firm-wide ESG trainings introduced in Q4-2021, focusing on subjects such as the EU’s action plan on sustainable finance. To support our growing organisation, we hired four new professionals during 2022, simultaneously improving firm diversity, with our female employee share now at >33%. 

Fiduciam

Small companies are the lifeblood of our economy, yet are often neglected, not only by the banks, but also by the large direct lenders.  Fiduciam is singularly focused on lending to small companies, across a wide variety of sectors including agriculture, education, hospitality, logistics, medical, real estate and retail, and across many European countries.  As a result, Fiduciam was ranked #1 in Debtwire’s 2022 Direct Lender Small-cap Ranking.   

The financing needs of small companies can be as complex as those of large companies.  To enable solutions that are as comprehensive and competitive as those offered to large companies, Fiduciam uses advanced lending technology and has a diverse and multi-cultural workforce of 55 employees.  Fiduciam and its small-cap borrowers enjoy the strong commitment of several prominent European institutional investors.  If we had to showcase a loan, it would be our financing of the roll out of small community clinics in the UK.