DunPort raises €255m at first close for new SME focused credit vehicle
Fund supported by domestic institutional investors, including ISIF
Sunday 5 September 2021 – DunPort Capital Management (“DunPort”) is pleased to announce the first close of its €255m SME focused direct lending fund, Oak Corporate Credit DAC (“Oak”). Oak, which succeeds Elm Corporate Credit DAC, a similar €283m fund launched by DunPort in 2017, is backed by a €95m commitment from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (“ISIF”) and supported by a number of other domestic institutional investors.
Through the Oak fund, DunPort will target the provision of tailored and flexible debt capital solutions to lower mid-market companies with earnings of between €1m and €10m in Ireland and the UK. Capital from the fund will be deployed in support of established businesses, across a diverse range of sectors, that require debt to fund the scaling of their activities through investment and development expenditure, acquisitions, recapitalisations or to resolve legacy financing issues.
DunPort, which will manage the Oak fund, is the leading provider of non-bank corporate and SME debt capital in the Irish market and an emerging player in the UK lower mid-market. DunPort’s experienced team of twelve investment professionals has a demonstrable track record of lending in the lower mid-market having deployed over €750m of capital across 64 different transactions with 38 companies.
