European Credit Fundraising Skyrockets in H1

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Executive summary

European private credit fundraising surged to €39.5 billion ($46.2 billion) in the first half of 2025, nearly tripling year-on-year and positioning the region for a record-breaking fundraising year. According to With Intelligence’s data, Europe captured 37% of global private credit fundraising—up sharply from 24% in prior years—driven by investors shifting allocations away from the saturated US direct lending market.

Mega-funds such as Ares Capital Europe VI (€17.1 billion) and ICG Europe Mid-Market II (€3.5 billion) helped propel Europe to the forefront. At the same time, opportunistic and special situations strategies also saw billion-euro closes. Investors cite economic uncertainty in the US, attractive rate dynamics in Europe, and increased infrastructure financing as key catalysts.

Placement agents and fund managers alike point to a “structural shift” in allocator behavior, with US and European pensions, sovereigns, and private wealth channels steadily increasing commitments to European private debt. This trend suggests Europe’s private credit fundraising boom is not a short-term rotation, but a sustained rebalancing of global capital flows.

European private credit fundraising

European private credit fundraising looks set for a record year as allocators reassess their recent overweight to US direct lending.

Private credit funds targeting Europe raised €39.5 billion ($46.2 billion) in the first six months of the year, according to our H1 Fundraising Report – almost tripling year-on-year, and just 18% below 2024’s full-year total of €48.1 billion.

Europe accounted for 37% of all private credit fundraising in H1 – a significant increase on both 2023 and 2024, when European funds accounted for 24% of fundraising.

Of the 10 largest raises in H1, five were European funds, including Ares Management‘s record-breaking direct lending fund, Ares Capital Europe VI, which raised €17.1 billion.

Five of the 10 largest raises were Europe-focused strategies.

Largest private credit funds: H1 2025

Fund	Manager	Strategy	Regional focus	Size ($bn)
Ares Capital Europe VI	Ares Management	Direct lending	Europe	20.0
Oaktree Opportunities Fund XII	Oaktree Capital	Opportunistic	Multi-region	16.0
Pemberton Mid-Market Debt Fund IV/Pemberton Senior Loan Fund II*	Pemberton Asset Management	Direct lending	Europe	7.1
Pantheon Senior Debt III	Pantheon	Secondaries	Multi-region	5.2
Apollo Accord+ II	Apollo Global Management	Opportunistic	North America	4.8
Alpinvest Strategic Portfolio Finance Fund II	Alpinvest	Specialty finance	Multi-region	4.0
Thoma Bravo Credit Fund III	Thoma Bravo	Direct lending	North America	3.6
ICG Europe Mid-Market II	Intermediate Capital Group	Mezzanine	Europe	3.5
Capital Four Private Debt V	Capital Four	Direct lending	Europe	3.5
Crescent European Specialty Lending III	Crescent Capital	Direct lending	Europe	3.5

Source: With Intelligence
*Figure is aggregated across both funds
€-denominated funds converted to $ at rate ot €1=1.16

Meanwhile, among funds actively fundraising, both Arcmont Asset Management and Intermediate Capital Group have achieved strong momentum for their latest flagship vehicles.

Arcmont Direct Lending Fund V has raised €5 billion of its €12 billion target, while ICG Europe IX has pulled in €5.8 billion against a €10 billion target, having held an early first close in Q1 due to surging allocator demand.

Investors look to Europe for stability

Jess Larsen, founder and CEO at private credit-focused placement agent Briarcliffe Credit Partners, pointed to the uncertain economic environment in the US as a key factor pushing investors to look elsewhere.

“Economic uncertainty in the US is on everyone’s minds, and for the first time, US LPs are starting to look at European private credit in significant numbers,” said Larsen.

Briarcliffe has taken on two European private credit mandates this year – one growth lending strategy and one distressed debt fund – and recently established a London office, led by ex-BlueMountain investor relations specialist Rollo Wigan, who serves as the firm’s head of EMEA.

Meanwhile, Ares Management CEO Michael Arougheti noted this month that investors were “shifting allocations from the US market to the European market,” driven by a favorable rate environment in Europe and increasing infrastructure spending, particularly in Germany.

“We now have a different rate trajectory and different fiscal stance that is making Europe much more attractive,” said Arougheti. “We are seeing increased investment, and we are seeing increased investor appetite.”

Apollo Global Management is another US giant which sees a “substantial origination opportunity” in Europe.

The firm has committed to invest $100 billion in Germany over the next decade, and recently committed to a £4.5 billion ($6 billion) debt investment in EDF to finance the UK’s Hinckley Point C power station.

A less efficient market

At the same time, the massive growth of US direct lending – including the rapid influx of private wealth capital to vehicles such as Blackstone‘s $74 billion non-traded BDC, BCRED – has created a market that feels increasingly saturated.

“As the US direct lending market has grown, it has become very efficient, leading to significant spread compression,” Larsen said. “By comparison, Europe is more diffuse and a less efficient market, so there is still opportunity for wider spreads.”

While the majority of European fundraising this year has gone to direct lending strategies, there have been several significant opportunistic and special situations closes as well: H1 saw Alchemy Partners, Metric Capital Partners, and Tikehau Capital wrap up €1 billion+ special sits funds.

London-based NorthWall Capital said in June that it had raised €1.6 billion in new capital in the past year, including a €731 million first close for its latest flagship opportunistic credit fund – already 14% more than the amount it raised for its predecessor, which closed last year at €640 million.

"Structural shift" in allocator behavior

While some of Europe’s fundraising surge is likely a reaction to the Trump administration’s tariff policies, there are signs of what NorthWall called a “structural shift” in allocator behavior towards sustained, long-term investment in European private debt.

In the US, investors including the Florida State Board of Administration, New Jersey Police & Fire Pension, and Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System have all made significant allocations to European private debt funds in recent months.

Consultants, including Callan and NEPC, are bullish on European private credit, citing pressures on banks arising from the Basel IV framework as a strong tailwind.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Briarcliffe’s Wigan said that institutional allocators are now beginning to invest in private debt in a fashion mirroring the late 2010s boom in the US, as are high-net-worth investors.

“European LPs are a few years behind their US counterparts in private credit investing, so a lot of pensions are only now starting to allocate to private debt in a systematic way,” said Wigan.

“At the same time, we are beginning to see significant flows to European private credit from private wealth channels.”