BNP Paribas Capital Partners has had a first close of its CP European Special Opportunities Debt Fund, a multi-manager fund that seeks to provide institutional investors with exposure to the European discounted private debt market.
The underlying funds in the offering will be private debt-orientated with a mix of special situations, distressed restructuring and collateralised/uncollateralised non-performing loans.
Each underlying fund is expected to have a minimum commitment of between €10m and €30m ($11m to $34m), a lifespan of seven years and an average duration of two and a half years.
Capital will be deployed in funds invested in European corporate debt issued by mid-sized companies that have experienced difficulties or have been excluded from traditional financing channels.
BNP Paribas Capital Partners expects to reach a final fundraising target of €250m in 2019, according to a press release published by the manager.
CP European Special Opportunities Debt Fundit will aim to generate a net internal rate of return of 9% to 12%, managed by Thierry De Rycke and Guiliano Rajabally.
“We are very pleased with the positive response from investors, confirming the robustness of our approach in carefully selecting highly specialised managers with proven expertise in their respective markets in Europe,” the duo said, adding that the fund offers investors access to market opportunities that are difficult to capture directly.
“The initial closing of BNP Paribas CP European Special Opportunities Debt Fund demonstrates the value and relevance of the concept and will allow us to begin implementing the investment programme,” said BNP Paribas Capital Partners CEO Gilles Guerin.
“The strategy is being managed by our specialist investment team, whose members average almost 16 years’ experience of identifying, selecting and investing in alternative funds.”
BNP Capital Partners has roughly €7bn in AuM.
BNP Paribas Capital holds first close of private debt FoF on HFM InvestHedge.