Apollo launches European Credit Company with over €10bn lending capacity

Apollo has launched a European credit platform with more than €10bn in lending capacity, bringing together international institutional investors and financial institutions to compete for corporate and asset-backed financing opportunities across the region.

The new business, European Credit Company (ECC), will focus exclusively on European performing credit, including corporate lending and financing secured against assets.

Its backers include Apollo-managed funds and affiliates, Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Athora, Norinchukin Bank, Standard Chartered and Aranda Principal Strategies.

The platform will target large companies and mid-market borrowers, alongside sponsors and owners of real assets, including infrastructure and property.

Apollo said ECC would originate financing through three principal channels: direct relationships with borrowers, partnerships with European financial institutions and access to Apollo’s existing European credit operations.

The structure is significant because it combines a dedicated European lending business with capital from institutions whose funding requirements and investment horizons can differ from those of traditional commercial banks.

For borrowers, that could provide another source of financing for capital-intensive operations, acquisitions, asset purchases and business expansion. Asset-backed lending is particularly relevant where a company can demonstrate the value and cash-generating capacity of eligible collateral.

However, Apollo has not specified how much of ECC’s planned activity will involve trade receivables, inventory or conventional working-capital facilities. Asset-backed credit is a wider category that can also encompass infrastructure, property and other secured exposures.

The headline figure also requires care. More than €10bn represents the platform’s stated lending capacity, not a disclosed amount already advanced to European borrowers.

ECC will be led by chief executive Giacomo Petrobelli and chairman Christian Meissner. It has established a presence in Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg and Milan, with further expansion planned.

The launch comes as alternative asset managers seek larger roles in financing businesses and assets traditionally served by banks. Partnerships with banks can be particularly important where institutions want to originate or distribute credit while managing balance-sheet constraints.

Apollo has not disclosed ECC’s initial borrower portfolio, individual loan commitments, target returns or the pricing of its proposed facilities.

The commercial test will be how much of the announced capacity converts into lending, and whether the platform can secure assets and borrowers that established bank lenders would otherwise have financed.