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Insurance brokerage and risk management firm, Risk Strategies, has been granted a $1.6 billion unitranche loan from a group of 10 direct lenders, according to a Reuters report. It’s one of the largest ever loans of this kind, said sources familiar with the matter.
The private credit loan, which includes a $400 million delayed draw component, was granted by administrative agent Golub Capital, alongside Goldman Sachs, Apollo Global Management, KKR, Oak Hill Advisors (OHA), Ares, Carlyle, Owl Rock Capital Partners, Antares Capital and Partners Group, according to the report.
It follows an upward trend of large-scale direct lending deals, which are reflective of the growing maturity of the private credit market, as well as the current drop in bank appetite for risk. Traditionally, unitranche loans have been as used as financial mechanisms for private equity-backed mergers and acquisitions, but they’re now increasingly being arranged for large borrowers.
The brokerage’s $1.6 billion unitranche loan announcement comes just two days after Risk Strategies acquired Dash & Love Inc., a full-service specialty brokerage based in Bala Cynwyd, PA. According to the Reuters report, proceeds from the loan are slated to refinance the company’s existing capital structure.
