CVC to buy US credit manager Marathon for up to $1.2 billion

LONDON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Private equity firm CVC CVC.AS has agreed to buy U.S.-based credit manager Marathon for up to $1.2 billion, it said on Monday, in the latest deal in the fast-consolidating private credit market.

CVC - which listed in Amsterdam in 2024 - said the deal would accelerate its growth in the U.S. and boost its assets under management in credit to 61 billion euros ($72 billion) by adding New York-based Marathon's more than $24 billion in credit assets.

Private credit, or lending to companies by institutions other than banks, has grown rapidly in recent years as stricter regulations made it more expensive for traditional lenders to finance riskier loans. Among a flurry of deals last year, BlackRock bought private credit firm HPS.

Large buyout firms in the U.S. have expanded rapidly into credit in the past decade, with the likes of Blackstone BX.N, Apollo APO.N and Carlyle CG.O managing large amounts of credit assets alongside their traditional private equity businesses.

"Expanding credit capability in the US to complement our market-leading European platform has been a clear priority for CVC," said CVC CEO Rob Lucas.

The deal will be made up of around $400 million in cash and up to $800 million in CVC equity, the company said, adding it expected the deal to close in the third quarter of this year.

It comes after AIG AIG.N and CVC agreed an investment tie-up last week to steer up to $3.5 billion of AIG capital into CVC-managed credit and private equity secondaries strategies.

($1 = 0.8441 euros)