Private equity giant Blackstone plans to double its European Private Credit Fund within the next year after raising €1bn from the region’s affluent investors, aiming to mirror the success of its $54bn US flagship fund, according to a report by the Financial Times.
Mike Carruthers, Senior Managing Director and European Head of Private Credit at Blackstone, said: “It took us 21 months to get to €1bn.
“I would like to challenge the team to get to €2bn in half that time, to double it in the next 10 to 11 months.”
ECRED was launched in 2022. The fund has been launched in seven countries including the UK, France and Italy, through partnerships with distributors such as BNP Paribas and Julius Baer. Blackstone plans to expand into more markets and add new distributors soon.
Blackstone runs ECRED similarly to its US counterpart BCRED targeting 80-85% private credit assets and 15-20% liquid assets.
