Rothschild closes Five Arrows credit fund on €415m

Greg Gille
14 May 2014

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Rothschild's Five Arrows Credit Solutions, a debt fund focused on the western European mid-market, has reached a final close on €415m.

Rothschild started raising the fund at the beginning of 2013, with an initial target of €400m. The manager held a first close on €235m in May last year.

The fund adds to the series of debt vehicles to have closed successfully in recent months, on the back of strong investor demand for credit solutions. ICG closed its Senior Debt Partners I fund on €1.7bn in April, comfortably surpassing its initial target of €1bn. At the end of last month, Muzinich & Co held a first close for Italian Private Debt Fund on €156m.

In the space of a few weeks in 2013, France's Idinvest raised €281m for its Dette Senior Vehicle, CVC Credit Partners placed shares worth €350m for its listed debt fund CVC Credit Partners European Opportunities, and HIG credit arm Bayside announced a $1.1bn final close for its latest European vehicle.

Investors
Rothschild stated it had attracted commitments from a global investor base comprising institutions, family offices and high-net-worth individuals.

Investments
Five Arrows will provide unitranche, mezzanine and other junior debt instruments to mid-market European companies.

The fund will provide financing for private equity-backed buyouts, expansion deals and recapitalisations. It will also provide expansion capital, refinancing and shareholder reorganisation, as well as direct lending solutions to privately owned corporates to finance acquisitions.

At the same time, Five Arrows will look at acquiring existing loans in the secondary market on an opportunistic basis.

People
Five Arrows is managed by Edouard Veber, the former co-manager of JP Morgan's European mezzanine investment activities, and former Indigo Capital partner Martin Hook.