New Mountain raises over $1bn for direct lending strategy

New Mountain Capital closed its latest direct lending fund at $1.15 billion in capital commitments that includes investments from the GP and employees of the $35 billion firm.

New Mountain Guardian III BDC is expected to have roughly $2 billion in investable capital, including leverage. The strategy is to lend to companies in select, non-cyclical defensive growth industries.

“We believe that the current environment, where robust sponsor deal activity and strong overall credit conditions are coupled with continued uncertainty and volatility in certain sectors, is especially well-suited to our agile and selective approach to credit investing,” said Robert Hamwee, managing director and co-portfolio manager of the private credit strategies at New Mountain. “We look forward to working with leading sponsors and portfolio companies to support their growth while pursuing attractive and consistent returns.”

Guardian III has already put $1.1 billion to work across 79 portfolio companies across a variety of high quality, non-cyclical industries including enterprise software, business services, healthcare services and healthcare technology. These are all industries that the firm already is active in within its existing private equity strategy.

The firm’s credit business has experienced rapid growth. Last month, New Mountain announced the closing of its third CLO at $507 million.

“We are pleased to see the strong reception Guardian III received from who we believe to be some of the leading sophisticated and experienced investors,” said John Kline, managing director and co-portfolio manager of the private credit strategies. “Our ability to leverage the resources, investing experience, knowledge and relationships of the entire New Mountain platform to help source and evaluate opportunities is a true differentiator, and we are excited to utilize that capability for the benefit of all of our stakeholders.”