Muzinich Pan-European Private Debt II holds €210m first close

The fund provides capital to lower-mid-market companies to fuel their growth, finance their expansion strategy via new acquisitions, and support managerial changes in family- and founder-owned businesses.

The vehicle is expected to exceed the size of its predecessor, Muzinich Pan-European Private Debt Fund I, which closed on €706.5m in January 2019, exceeding its €500m target.

"We are one of the very few private lenders in the lower-mid-market with a pan-European offering," said Kirsten Bode, co-head of private debt for Europe. "As the dynamics underlying this asset class continue to shift considerably, we believe our large, dedicated team of investment professionals and a local presence across Europe give us a significant advantage in accessing a broad and diverse market in order to generate attractive returns for our investors."

Muzinich manages a suite of private debt vehicles, including Muzinich UK Private Debt, Muzinich Iberian Private Debt, and Muzinich Italian Private Debt.

The firm has been providing financing solutions to small and medium-sized companies since the launch of its private debt business in 2014. Its global private debt team is composed of 36 investment professionals based in 11 offices across Europe, the US and the Asia-Pacific region.

Furthermore, Muzinich controls Italian private equity firm Springrowth, which it acquired in April 2018. The latter has recently held a final close for its first private debt fund, Fondo di Credito Diversificato per le Imprese (FCDI), on €417m. The vehicle has invested €160m so far and targets an IRR of around 4-5%. The fund deploys tickets in the €3-15m range and plans to make around 100 deals. It targets European companies generating EBITDA of at least €3m and revenues of €30-150m.

FCDI works in partnership with Italian and international banks in the origination process of the deals. It has so far completed 38 transactions, including 28 across Italy, benefiting from its partnerships with 15 Italian banks, such as Banco BPM, UBI Banca, BNL, Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit. The remaining 10 deals were inked in the rest of Europe, in partnership with Crédit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Deutsch Bank.

Springrowth is also planning to launch a Rescue Financing Fund with a €200m target by the end of the year, to support Italian companies in distress and help them recover during the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak.

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