Blackstone is seeking a tenfold increase of assets in its Asia-Pacific private credit business to tap a market with a growing appetite for such financing.
The US alternative asset manager aims to expand its private credit assets to at least $5 billion in the “near term” from the $500 million committed as of the fourth quarter of last year, said Paulo Eapen, who heads the operations in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Blackstone Credit began investing actively in the region in 2021.
While Asia makes up only a tiny fraction of the global private credit market, Blackstone is betting that demand will build as companies in the region increasingly look to diversify debt financing away from bank loans.
“Asia’s nascent private debt markets are set to be on the rise given the accelerating growth in private equity activities,” Mr Eapen said in an interview.
“There’s a tremendous opportunity for Blackstone Credit to contribute to the underserved Asian private debt market and address the rising financing demand.”
Mr Eapen wants Blackstone’s Asia-Pacific credit business to be of a similar scale to its operation in Europe. As of the first quarter, Europe accounted for around 16 per cent of the company's $266bn global credit and insurance business, while North America contributed more than 80 per cent.
To do that, Blackstone Credit — one of the few private lenders that can provide more than $1bn for a single transaction — is targeting large-scale transactions in high-growth sectors such as life sciences and technology, Mr Eapen said.
It’s currently looking at six to eight deal opportunities in the region, he said, without specifying further. The company will use global capital to fund the expansion, a Blackstone official said.
Blackstone’s move comes as most of Asia’s economies reopen as the Covid-19 pandemic subsides, potentially boosting financing demand. In addition, recent market volatility could present an opportunity for private funds as traditional capital pulls back. Other firms are jumping on the bandwagon, with KKR recently announcing it raised $1.1bn for its first credit fund focused on investments in Asia, zooming in on Australia and South-east Asia.
Though Asia has some of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies, the region’s private credit market remains largely untapped. That’s in part due to local regulations on foreign investment in places like India and China.
In ramping up its presence in the region, Blackstone Credit recently hired Mark Glengarry as head of Asia-Pacific origination to be based in Sydney. Mr Glengarry was previously the managing director of Anchorage Capital Group's London and Sydney offices.
Private credit currently contributes roughly 23 per cent to the $3.7 trillion US sub-investment grade credit market and Europe is following a similar upward trend, Mr Glengarry said.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Read more about the coronavirus
Brief scoreline:
Crystal Palace 2
Milivojevic 76' (pen), Van Aanholt 88'
Huddersfield Town 0
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Schedule:
Friday, January 12: Six fourball matches
Saturday, January 13: Six foursome (alternate shot) matches
Sunday, January 14: 12 singles
The biog
Favourite book: You Are the Placebo – Making your mind matter, by Dr Joe Dispenza
Hobby: Running and watching Welsh rugby
Travel destination: Cyprus in the summer
Life goals: To be an aspirational and passionate University educator, enjoy life, be healthy and be the best dad possible.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
