KEPPEL’s third private credit fund has raised approximately $300 million in committed capital in its first close, the global asset manager and operator announced Wednesday (October 30).

The fund, known as Keppel Private Credit Fund III, was launched earlier this year with a target size of $1 billion.

Keppelthe fund’s sponsor, said it would commit US$100 million, while the rest of the fund’s investment would come from “leading global institutional investors”.

It provides loans to companies engaged in defensive infrastructure type operating activities across a range of real asset sectors in Asia Pacific.

These include areas such as renewable energy, transport, telecommunications, logistics, social infrastructure and other basic infrastructure.

As the third private credit fund in Keppel’s private credit strategy, it succeeds two previous funds: the Pierfront Capital Mezzanine Fund and the Keppel-Pierfront Private Credit Fund.

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The firm’s two previous private credit funds committed more than US$820 million to nearly 30 investments and exited half of those investments, which generated risk-adjusted returns of between US$15 and US$15.

The company said it does not expect the first closing of the latest fund to have a material impact on its earnings per share and net tangible assets per share for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Stéphane Delatte, managing director and chief investment officer of Keppel Credit Fund Management, noted that the private credit market in the Asia-Pacific region presents “considerable opportunities” for development, as the region is expected to contribute more than 60% of the growth in global gross domestic product during the period. the next decade.

Delatte added that the company’s private credit strategy aims to capitalize on the significant growth in private credit assets under management in the Asia-Pacific region, which have quadrupled over the past decade and reached $124 billion. last year, but still represent only about 6 percent. of the total global private credit market.

Keppel shares were trading down 0.9 per cent or S$0.06 at S$6.44 as of 2:26 p.m.