Private market secondaries major Coller Capital has announced raising a total of $6.8 billion for its latest credit secondary platform, which includes the Coller Credit Opportunities II that has secured its final close.
The firm’s credit platform also includes commingled funds, co-investment vehicles, separately managed accounts, and its credit-focused perpetual funds. Coller Capital had raised a $1.4-billion inaugural credit fund in 2022, which was the largest of its kind at the time.
CCO II will buy senior direct-lending and other performing loans through both investor-led and manager-led secondary deals, per the announcement.
Although Coller did not disclose contributors to CCO II, investors in its predecessor fund included US and European pensions, sovereign wealth funds, and insurers.
CCO II reaffirms the significant evolution and maturation of the private credit secondaries market, said Jeremy Coller, chief investment officer and managing partner of Coller Capital.
“Investors increasingly recognise the strategic importance of private credit secondaries in achieving defensive exposure, liquidity, and enhanced portfolio management amid heightened market volatility,” he added.
Private credit assets have more than doubled globally since 2019 to about $1.5 trillion, according to data provider Preqin, but secondary trading remains a fraction of that figure, leaving what Coller calls “a long runway for growth.”
At $99 billion, Asia Pacific accounted for only 6.6% of global private credit assets under management, per Preqin data.
The structural shift away from bank lending, ongoing corporate refinancing needs, and a growing class of alternative lenders will continue to accelerate private credit in this region, DealStreetAsia earlier reported.
Coller Capital was an early mover in credit secondaries, pioneering investments as early as 2008. To date, the firm said it has committed $10.1 billion to the space.
Founded in 1990, Coller is best known for buying portfolios of private equity fund stakes. In March, it bought a $1.6-billion loan book from insurer American National in one of the biggest investor-led credit secondary trades on record.
Last year, it seeded a $1.6-billion continuation vehicle for mid-market lender Abry Partners, allowing the manager to hold onto assets while offering existing backers liquidity.
In 2021, Coller Capital, along with an Asian institution, bought a private credit portfolio from Ping An Insurance for $680 million. The transaction, which marked one of the largest private credit secondary deals at that time, covered four flagship credit funds managed by blue-chip North American and European managers.
“Our disciplined, credit-centric investment strategy, combined with our ability to execute complex transactions at scale, continues to resonate with global investors seeking defensive, diversified strategies,” said Michael Schad, partner, head of Coller Credit Secondaries.
Coller Capital’s Global Private Capital Barometer showed that 65% of global limited partners (LPs) anticipate an increase in private credit GP‑led secondaries in the next two to three years, as more private credit funds approach the later stages of their lifecycle and look for options to retain assets while providing liquidity.
