News from Ely Place

Ely Place Partners (“Ely Place”), the London-based placement agent and secondaries advisory firm, has advised Investec Alternative Investment Management (“IAIM”), a subsidiary of Investec Bank plc, on an innovative structured credit secondary purchase of high-quality performing loans from Investec’s balance sheet.

This transaction forms a seed portfolio for launch of Investec’s inaugural European Senior Debt Fund I (“SDF I”, the “fund”). The transaction was led by Carlyle AlpInvest and provides the Investec Direct Lending Team with approximately €400m of investable capital, including significant new capital provided by Carlyle AlpInvest.

Ely Place expects the credit secondaries market to reach at least $17bn through 2025, expanding by 50-100% in both 2023 and 2024. This growth has led to a number of GPs turning to the secondary market not only as a source of liquidity but also as a means to raise capital.

SDF I is a close-ended, Luxembourg-based special limited partnership focused on providing traditional senior secured loans for European private equity and corporate backed businesses between €3m-€50m EBITDA primarily based in the UK, Ireland, Benelux, and DACH regions. The strategy is focused on lending to high quality growth-orientated companies in the lower mid-market – a segment which remains underserved by banks and fund managers. It partners with management teams and their financial sponsors supporting their strategic ambitions, whether organic or inorganic, to drive business growth.

Daniel Roddick, Founder at Ely Place Partners, commented: “We are thrilled to have advised on another innovative transaction in the credit secondary space. We have seen tremendous growth in the sector and expect far more debt managers to take advantage of this relatively new market.”

Investec’s Head of Direct Lending and IAIM, Callum Bell commented: “The launch of this senior loan fund marks an important milestone for our alternatives platform, and we are delighted to have partnered with Carlyle AlpInvest. It enables us to showcase the full breadth of the team’s sourcing and underwriting capabilities across the European private debt market.

“We are actively and strategically growing into new adjacencies to strengthen our platform and to offer investors access to tailored risk-reward profiles across our sourcing spectrum. This new fund represents an exciting step forward as we pursue our growth ambitions over the next five years.”