Hayfin Capital Management (“Hayfin”), a leading alternative asset management firm, announced the successful close of Hayfin Direct Lending Fund V (“DLF V”), having attracted capital in excess of €15 billion, significantly exceeding its target for the fundraise. The fundraise comprises the commingled Hayfin Direct Lending Fund V, which has reached a final close, together with related investment vehicles. At the time of the close, DLF V had already deployed more than 50% of commitments across over 35 companies.
Through its Direct Lending strategy, Hayfin sources, structures and invests in performing seniorsecured loans to primarily European middlemarket and uppermiddlemarket businesses, with an emphasis on downside protection and robust cash flow generation or asset coverage. The vast majority of these loans are originated through an extensive relationship-based primary sourcing network spanning 13 offices and dedicated sectorspecialist teams. This broad-based origination model has allowed Hayfin to build a diverse portfolio of loans to a wide range of cashgenerative businesses, with minimal exposure to software credits deemed most susceptible to AI disruption. Hayfin invested a record €7.1 billion into Direct Lending transactions in the last 12 months, bringing total strategy deployment to over €38 billion across more than 350 investments since the firm’s inception.
The fundraise attracted capital commitments exclusively from a global institutional investor base, comprising public and private pension funds, financial institutions, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, funds of funds, endowments, consultants and family offices. Recent strains within semi-liquid US private credit funds for retail investors have accelerated LP demand for conservative fund structures, in line with Hayfin’s approach of securing locked-up capital in closed-ended drawdown and institutional evergreen vehicles. This helped Hayfin to achieve the most significant milestone yet for its flagship private credit strategy with the successful close of Direct Lending Fund V, more than doubling the amount raised for Direct Lending Fund IV, which closed in August 2023 with over €6bn in total commitments.
The DLF V fundraise also includes the successful close of a rated note feeder which contributed approximately $600 million of total investable capital. The structure, advised on by Proskauer as Legal Counsel, provides insurers with capital-efficient access to Hayfin’s European Direct Lending strategy, reflecting the firm’s commitment to broadening access to its private credit platform across a diverse range of institutional investor types.
Mark Tognolini, Co-Chief Executive Officer and CoFounder of Hayfin, commented: “We are very pleased with the successful close of Direct Lending Fund V and grateful for the strong support from both new and longstanding investors. At a time when parts of the private credit market are experiencing heightened volatility, this fundraise reflects confidence in our disciplined underwriting, our highly specialised team, our conservative approach to fund structuring and our differentiated origination model, which has been built to perform consistently across market cycles.
“In recent months, longstanding differences between the US and European private credit markets have become even more pronounced, with European lenders continuing to benefit from greater market fragmentation, continued bank retrenchment and a predominantly institutional capital base. Against this backdrop, we are well placed to take further market share and support highquality European businesses with flexible financing solutions – as we have consistently done in other periods of volatility – while preserving our focus on capital preservation and downside protection.”
Hayfin was advised on the fundraise by Macfarlanes.
Since it was founded in 2009, Hayfin has invested over €55bn of capital across more than 500 portfolio companies via its private credit strategies.
Source: Hayfin Capital Management
