Apollo Global Management Inc. is launching its €10 billion ($11.2 billion) private-credit arm for Europe with backers including the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, plus a chairman known to the region: veteran investment banker Christian Meissner. The platform, called European Credit Co., is starting with capital from Apollo vehicles and other sources, such as Athora, Norinchukin Bank, Standard Chartered Plc and Aranda Principal Strategies. ECC, led by Giacomo Petrobelli, will offer asset-based finance and more traditional debt to midsize and large companies, as well as financial sponsors and owners of assets including infrastructure and real estate.
Bloomberg reported the platform's initial capital target in June. Apollo Chief Executive Officer Marc Rowan has predicted that direct lending will grow faster in Europe than anywhere else as borrowers seek financing beyond banks and bond markets. His firm has been recruiting well-connected advisers and dealmakers to help it expand there.
The asset management giant rejigged its leadership teams in Europe this year, putting former Standard Chartered finance chief Diego De Giorgi in charge of the region. Meissner led Credit Suisse's investment bank and, before that, corporate and investment banking at Bank of America Corp. Apollo already manages about $250 billion of assets in Europe. Athora - in which Apollo holds a stake - completed a takeover of the UK's Pension Insurance Corp. for about £5.7 billion ($7.6 billion) this year, adding to its own clout in the region. "The formation of ECC is driven by a generational opportunity to mobilize global pools of capital to finance Europe's long-term growth agenda," Petrobelli, formerly chief investment officer at Oldenburgische Landesbank, said in the statement. "We aim to build ECC into a premier pan-European credit platform, focused exclusively on the region." ECC has offices in Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg and Milan, and it plans to open additional locations.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing