Bain Capital Specialty Finance partners with Pantheon for private lending

Bain Capital Specialty Finance has announced the formation of a joint venture with the private credit business of Pantheon, a global alternative private markets manager, to provide private direct lending solutions to middle market borrowers, primarily across Europe and Australia.

The joint venture will invest through the International Senior Loan Program LLC. BCSF and Pantheon have agreed to contribute capital, subject to the terms of their agreement, to purchase equity interests in ISLP. The equity ownership of ISLP is expected to be roughly 70.5% for BCSF and 29.5% for Pantheon, with investment decisions requiring approval by representatives of both BCSF and Pantheon. ISLP's investment portfolio is expected to initially consist of approximately $320 million in investment principal of senior secured loans contributed by BCSF.

The strategic partnership is expected to provide BCSF with enhanced balance sheet flexibility to expand its global capabilities, and greater capacity to continue to invest in new senior secured loan investments to middle market companies. Giving effect to BCSF's expected transfer of the Initial Portfolio to ISLP, BCSF's pro forma ending debt-to-equity (net of cash) ratio is expected to be roughly 1.1x, down from approximately 1.3x as of Dec. 31, 2020.

Bain Capital Credit's global team provides financing to middle market companies across North America, Europe and Australia. It has been an active investor across Europe since 2007, and has been investing in Australia for nearly a decade. In total, the team has deployed more than $13 billion in over 300 companies across its global direct lending strategy since 1999.