Last week, news broke that Ares Management is continuing its penetration into the sport, with a $75m preferred equity investment in David Beckham’s (and Lionel Messi’s) club Inter Miami. The deal brings the total investment from Ares into the Florida-based team to $225m.

Whether it is a good bet remains to be seen. League tables don’t lie, and Inter Miami is currently bottom of the Eastern Conference table, although the team’s form has improved since Messi arrived at the club. A report from Bloomberg also noted that Ares is interested in investing in Chelsea FC — a team that has seen much success in recent years. Never mind that in its first year under Todd Boehly’s ownership Chelsea finished a miserable 12th in the UK Premier League.

Unlike Chelsea’s goal count, private investments in sports are booming. Wrexham FC’s story mixes the glitz and glamor of sport and Hollywood, while Tom Brady has put cash into Birmingham City. Perhaps the biggest drama of them all is the much anticipated sale of Manchester United.

Even in the college ranks, Florida State University’s athletic department reportedly enlisted JP Morgan to raise private equity cash, with Sixth Street sniffing around a possible deal. 

Ares has dedicated $3.7bn to a strategy that invests in sports leagues and teams, as well as media and entertainment companies. 

If this pace of investment continues, it may not matter so much who you buy as when. Teams have their ups and downs, but many firms seem to be betting that this riding tide of sports money will raise all boats.

More than direct lending

Private credit may seem like a flashy new asset class today, but the companies it lends to often do not have their names up in lights (Inter Miami and Chelsea notwithstanding).

But every now and then, a household name comes through. Many readers may know Bausch Health, the Canadian multi-national pharmaceutical company — with its hands in dermatology, gastrointestinal health, dentistry, neurology and vision — formerly known as Valeant.

Against the backdrop of a healthy earnings report, the company turned to private markets for a $600m debt facility from KKR Credit. But this was not your traditional direct lending loan — it was a facility secured against the company’s accounts receivables. 

As of 2 August, the loan — which was priced at SOFR+665bps and sits off the company’s balance sheet — was drawn to the tune of $350m, according to the company’s most recent earnings call.

Asset-backed deals are not new to private credit, but you could be forgiven for thinking they are. Recently, lenders and lawyers in the space have been fretting about vulnerabilities in securitization language within private credit agreements, for example. 

And yet, many still think of private credit as direct senior lending only. That’s not accurate: a recent report from placement agent Briarcliffe Credit Partners cites 26 sub-categories in private credit. They include litigation and trade finance, venture debt, NAV lending (which we covered here) and sector-focused real-asset strategies in agriculture, infrastructure and real estate.

Despite the large variations between each strategy, there is a common theme: banks have pulled back, making space for non-bank lenders. The private asset-based finance market is on the rise, with KKR estimating that it will grow to as large as $7.7trn in size by 2027. 

Dan Pietrzak, global head of private credit at KKR, noted this during the earnings call for the firm’s public BDC on Tuesday: the difficulties faced by smaller, regional banks is further opening the door for private credit lenders. 

“We are seeing meaningful opportunities in our traditional asset-based financing business, particularly given the pressure on banks to optimize their balance sheets,” he said.

Distinction with a difference

For years now, the key marketing term for giant asset managers has been to be a one-stop shop.

Many of them have built their legacies in private equity, and now offer private credit products from senior to junior to equity-type investments. More and more are now offering asset-based financing products.

Bain Capital, a big player in private equity and private credit, recently announced the launch of Legacy Corporate Lending, an ABL platform targeting the middle market. Apollo has also expanded its reach in the asset-based financing markets lately.

A similar trend took place in venture lending both before and after the SVB crisis, with firms like Horizon and Kreos being acquired by Monroe and BlackRock respectively. If you’re not excited about vanilla cash flow lending, then such firms are now offering venture debt instead. LPs needn’t leave the building.

If you are souring on private equity perhaps you may want to meet the mezzanine team instead? On Friday, 9fin reported that KKR is seeking an unlevered gross IRR between 14% to 16% and a levered gross IRR between 16% to 18% for its latest mezzanine fund. 

Mezzanine debt can be an alternative to the crowded — and increasingly challenged — field of private equity, sources point out. 

“It’s mezz versus private equity. Mezz can look interesting as some private equity allocations are showing negative returns,” said one analyst.

Alternatively, you could just go for a secondaries fund. Incidentally, JP Morgan is out hunting for $1bn from institutional investors for its private credit secondaries fund. It’s a market that is looking more and more optimistic with $17bn recorded in transactions just last year.