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The Unicrunch is our US private credit newsletter, in which we break down everything from unitranches to ABL lending. Sign up for the inside track on this fast-growing market.

In a Valentine’s Day special of the The Private Credit Bachelor, three lenders were given roses by the Employees’ Retirement Fund of the City of Dallas.

The lucky firms selected for a $20m investment were Vista, Silver Point, and MGG. Rival hands for the heart, Raven Capital, Crayhill Capital Management, and Strategic Value Partners, were unfortunately sent home.

Dallas ERF’s $60m outlay was its first into private credit, having implemented a 2.5% target allocation early last year, but seemingly the $3.7bn pension scheme has attempted to cover the gamut of private credit corporate lending. The LP has chosen a classic direct lending strategy in Vista’s fund, a distressed fund in Silver Point’s vehicle, and a smaller, more opportunistic vehicle in MGG.

The Dallas love-in follows Tacoma Employees Retirement System’s flirtation with private credit managers last week. The Washington investor is earlier in its dating lifecycle, having shortlisted eight managers it could invest with and working with matchmaker Wilshere to whittle it down. Talk about playing the field!

To make room for this private credit investment, the Tacoma LP is shrinking its allocation to the syndicated market.

A brief interruption from the denominator effect aside, pension funds, insurance companies, and other institutional investors have gone big on private credit in the last few years, recognizing the structural change in lending markets that hands more opportunities to non-bank lenders. Almost $200bn was raised globally last year by private credit funds, according to Preqin, in line with the $208bn raised the year prior.

So even if banks are gaining ground in the current climate (see below), LPs still see the potential for a long-term relationship in private credit.

The big news of the week is that Cotiviti’s loan has finally launched.

Split between a $4.4bn tranche A priced at SOFR+350bps with a 0% floor and a 99.5 OID and a creatively structured $600m tranche B, which is fixed (with price not yet known).

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. This time last year, it was a credit that was going to be placed firmly in direct lending portfolios.

Fault, however, doesn’t lie with the private credit firms. Carlyle was in talks to buy the business, but those discussions fell apart last year thanks to the age-old issue of a mismatch in valuations. Private credit was ready to go; Carlyle wasn’t and ultimately baulked on the price.

But markets change, and now it is the turn of KKR to invest in the company (alongside previous sponsor Veritas).

Any deal priced below SOFR+500bps simply doesn’t cover the cost of capital for private credit firms. Even a separate direct lending offering for the latest Cotiviti financing was made at SOFR+475bps — a level many direct lenders were not comfortable with.

Many sponsors select lender partnerships on factors beyond pricing (for if sponsors only cared about the margin there wouldn’t be a market). But when you’re counting the costs, as sponsors are keenly focused on doing so today, bank loans make sense.

This week, 9fin reported that MUFG has eyed up a portfolio of loans from US Bank. Such assets are housed in the Union Bank, which US Bank not long ago acquired from… MUFG.

The curious part of this case is explaining why US Bank would put these assets up for sale so soon after buying them. There are various potential explanations — but whatever the full reason it is certainly difficult in the current climate for regional banks to operate middle market lending strategies,

“I saw first-hand the bank pull a 180,” said one former employee that spoke with 9fin.

As we detailed in our article, the private credit assets were just a small part of the initial Union Bank purchase in 2022. A key driver for that acquisition was increasing US Bank’s presence in California, and the direct lending portfolio came as part of the package.

MUFG will be hardly complaining if it comes away with the portfolio. It knows the assets well which is a bonus. But selling assets only to get them back for less a few months later seems like good business, even if the route is circuitous.

If this were to happen, the timing would be good as MUFG would up its presence in the private credit market. Last month, 9fin reported the bank is in the process of partnering with Evolution Credit Partners to invest in middle market loans.

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