Apollo Global Management has formed a global credit platform which will aim to provide $12 billion in financing over the next three years, the US-based private equity firm said on Monday.
The platform will target transactions of approximately $1 billion to help meet growing corporate demand for direct lending, the firm said in a statement.
The platform, called Apollo Strategic Origination Partners, is anchored by Abu Dhabi state-owned firm Mubadala Investment Company.
The move comes as Apollo, which had invested heavily after the 2008 global financial crisis, gears up to deploy more capital in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has hammered businesses worldwide.
The development also comes after Apollo last month scrapped its India joint venture with ICICI Venture and decided to go solo in the country.
Apollo said at the time that it would make direct credit investments in India. Over the past decade, the PE firm had invested in India via AION Capital, its joint venture with ICICI Venture.
James Zelter, co-president and chief investment officer of credit at Apollo Global, said there is “meaningful demand” for financing solutions that sit between the firm’s middle-market direct lending platform and the broadly syndicated loan market. Apollo expects the new platform to “effectively capitalize” on the burgeoning opportunity set, he said.
Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Mubadala’s deputy group CEO, said it chose to team up with Apollo “for their breadth of experience, historically strong performance and low default rate” within its credit business.
The platform will originate direct lending solutions on a global basis, targeting scaled investments in large, established corporations, the statement said.
