Blackstone Taps Private Credit to Fund Champions Group Buyout

Blackstone Inc. financed its acquisition of residential services provider Champions Group with a more than $1 billion private credit loan as buyout firms and lenders seek refuge from sectors prone to artificial intelligence disruption.

The deal priced at 4.5 percentage points over the benchmark rate, according to people familiar with the transaction, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. That spread is generally considered to be about the tightest that private credit is willing to go.

The transaction includes a delayed-draw term loan and would bring the company’s leverage — debt relative to a measure of ...