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California pension with about $4bn AUM looks to enter $100m this year into its new dedicated private credit sleeve after hearing more good news from its first credit GPs.

While the firm’s fundamentals were solid, investors cautious about private credit’s future punished Ares’ shares.

Initial $250m consideration is composed of $125m in cash and $125m in units of P10.

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Firms are bifurcating between serving large private equity-backed deals or looking at more niche specialist concerns to stand out in a competitive market.

‘Europe has always offered a spread pick-up,’ says Taj Sidhu, partner and head of European and Asian private credit at Carlyle.

Investors looking to take more risk in private credit could consider the highly specialised sports and media sector, which is undergoing a major transformation.

Though collapses primarily occurred on bank balance sheets, alternatives managers have sought to get ahead of the problem.

Blackstone’s IG Credit AUM is now $130bn, up 30% year-on-year.

The deal will significantly expand CVC’s presence in North America and follows the signing of a $3.5bn partnership with AIG.