Private Debt Investor: LCM invests €450m over summer

LCM Partners has had what group chief executive officer Paul Burdell describes as the busiest summer in the firm’s 17-year history, deploying €450 million of capital.

Last week, the firm closed a £200 million deal involving a rescheduled loan portfolio from a large UK consumer finance issuer. The firm also recently completed its first transaction in the French market. Further details on these transactions were not made public.

According to market sources, other recent deals the firm has been involved in have included a €90 million performing loan book acquired from BBVA in Italy as well as recently completing the purchase of a loan book and operating business, Everyday Finance, in Ireland. The group now has a presence across eight European markets and over 500 people dedicated to loan administration and customer service.

LCM is two years into the deployment of its Credit Opportunities strategy which, according to the firm, is currently delivering an unleveraged IRR of 12.4 percent, in line with what LCM said it expected.

“This has been a fantastic year for LCM, with a good deal of dry powder to put to work we have been actively buying portfolios from all over Europe,” said Burdell. “We have seen a vast range of deals, both in terms of size, asset class and across the complete credit spectrum.” 

LCM typically targets mid-market deals of €5-75 million across consumer and SME loans including credit cards, mortgages, personal and commercial loans, retail credit, auto loans, leasing and asset finance, utility bills and the consumer public sector.

In May, we reported that LCM had received a $100 million commitment from The Teachers Retirement System of the State of Illinois, a $44 billion pension system. The allocation came from the pension’s $7.8 billion Global Fixed Income portfolio.