The $708 billion Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has committed $625 million of equity in Jefferies Credit Partners direct lending business development company (BDC).
Jefferies Credit Partners, the private credit manager and asset management arm of Jefferies Finance, announced on Wednesday the intention to launch the private placement of a BDC to further its lending capacity in the private credit space.
The BDC is slated to launch with approximately $1.7 billion of investable capital and plans to take advantage of strong market conditions, while leveraging Jefferies’ unique position in serving as sponsors. Jefferies Finance is a joint venture of Jefferies Financial group and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.
“This agreement with ADIA to seed our first BDC comes as the tailwinds in the private credit market have never been stronger,” said Thomas Brady, president of Jefferies Finance. “We value the trust ADIA has shown in us and look forward to a long and successful relationship.”
The focus of the BDC is on first lien senior secured loans to private equity sponsored U.S. companies. The team will target upper middle market borrowers that have greater than $75 million EBITDA and often benefit from established track records, seasoned management and operational scale.
ADIA has a 7% allocation to credit strategies and up to 12% to private equities, according to the sovereign wealth fund’s website.
Hamad Shahwan Aldhaheri, executive director of the Private Equities Department at ADIA, commented, “This independently run platform will benefit from a unique origination engine due to its partnership with Jefferies’ leading investment banking franchise, driving exclusive access to differentiated investment opportunities.”
