DunPort Capital Management has announced the second close of its SME focused direct lending fund at €335m.
The company said its Oak Corporate Credit fund has received a €70m commitment from the European Investment Fund and a €95m from Irish taxpayers through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).
The fund is also being capitalised by a number of unidentified domestic and international institutional investors.
The EIF subscription marks the first diversified debt fund investment in Ireland by the specialist provider of risk finance.
The agreement is backed by the pan-European Guarantee Fund, as part of the European Union's €540bn package to address the economic impact of Covid-19.
In Association with
Since the launch of the Oak fund in July 2021, DunPort says it has deployed c.€90m in support of companies across Ireland and the UK.
Through the Oak fund, DunPort is targeting the provision of debt capital solutions to lower mid-market companies with earnings of between €1m and €10m in Ireland and the UK.
In 2020, Tigers Childcare tapped DunPort for a reported €5m in growth finance.
Capital from the fund is deployed in support of established businesses that require debt to fund the scaling of their activities through investment and development expenditure, acquisitions, recapitalisations or to resolve legacy financing issues.
Executive director Pat Walsh commented: “We continue to see strong and sustained demand for flexible debt solutions from a wide range of advisors, sponsors and business owners in Ireland and the UK.
“We are very pleased to announce the fund’s upsizing at its final close. With a robust pipeline of opportunities currently under review, DunPort looks forward to building on the strong relationships with our investor base and the wider intermediary network to enhance our position as a leading alternative debt capital provider.”
Ross Morrow, executive director at DunPort, added: “Our targeted niche of the market has a large volume of transactions but with a limited supply of alternative debt capital.
“DunPort’s fund offers borrowers a differentiated capital solution to other potential sources based on speed of response, access to decision makers, certainty of execution and flexibility in our investment process, as well as continuity of relationship management throughout the term of the funding.”
DunPort says it has provided €440m in debt finance across 43 transactions to 27 companies since it was established in 2017.
The lender has an investment team of 14 professionals, and funding examples can be viewed here.
Photo: Pat Walsh, DunPort Capital Management
