MCI launches debt fund with $500m target

An MCI spokesperson told unquote" that MCICV2 has currently raised around $55m and is targeting $500m over the course of the next two years. Currently, the majority of the capital is provided by the group's main LP, MCI Capital, with 8% of commitments coming from external sources.

Structured as an evergreen vehicle, it will be able to provide a broad range of financing: mezzanine, venture debt, high-yield bonds and investment fund bonds, as well as senior debt and bills of exchange.

The fund's aim is to plug a perceived gap in the CEE funding market, which is considered to be undersaturated, particularly in the venture debt space.

Around 80% of the vehicle's capital will be used for alternative debt, while the remaining 20% will be deployed as senior debt and bills of exchange. MCICV2 will deploy between PLN 1m and PLN 50m per transaction, giving preference to technology companies. It currently has PLN 186m in assets under management.

The first formal financing provided by the new vehicle was a PLN 50m junior debt tranche in support of Cinven, Permira and Mid Europa's $3.25bn buyout of Polish online marketplace Allegro in December.

Though MCICV2 also provided mezzanine to the 2015 buyout of Spearhead International by Paine and Partners, the MCI spokesperson said the financing was considered more of a one-off at the time. "[The Allegro deal] is an official start to our activity in the field, and we wish to add more transactions of that kind to the portfolio," the spokesperson said.

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• Topics
• CEE
• GPs
• Fundraising
• MCI Management
• Poland
• Mezzanine