Private Credit Firms Eye Public Companies as Their Next Target

For years, private credit firms have focused on financing private equity buyouts or closely held companies that had limited access to capital. Now, they are zeroing in on their next frontier: Large public companies that want to diversify their funding mix.

Publicly traded firms have traditionally relied on leveraged loans or revolvers arranged by banks for capital. But they’ve become more comfortable taking private debt as the market has grown, according to market participants. Part of that is tied to direct lenders’ core pitch that they can offer fast and flexible financing, a selling point that has become important to ...