HedgeCo.Net — Arini, the London-based credit manager with $22 billion of assets under management as of August 31, 2026, has held the final close of Arini Direct Lending Fund I. The fund and related vehicles are targeting more than $4 billion of deployment, including anticipated leverage, which Arini said places it among the largest debut European direct lending funds ever raised.
The firm built a sizable portfolio while it was raising capital. Total deployment for the strategy is now approaching $2 billion, focused on senior secured loans to borrowers with recurring, underwritable cash flows in industries Arini considers to have limited risk of disruption. Borrowers span founder-led, family-owned and sponsor-backed businesses across a range of sectors and geographies.
Arini’s pitch rests on the structure of European corporate finance. Unlike the U.S., banks in Europe still hold a dominant share of corporate lending, which the firm argues creates room for non-bank lenders as traditional lenders pull back from middle-market borrowers. “De-banking in Europe is creating a major supply/demand imbalance in favour of middle market lenders,” said founder and chief investment officer Hamza Lemssouguer. The firm cited a strategic sourcing alliance with Lazard, sector-focused coverage of more than 1,000 companies, and relationships with banks looking to serve clients in a capital-efficient way.
The fund is backed by pensions, sovereign wealth funds and other financial institutions in North America, Europe and the Middle East. Founded in 2021, Arini began in European credit and now runs long/short, structured, opportunistic, direct lending and asset-based finance strategies from offices in London, New York, Abu Dhabi, Warsaw and Jersey.
For allocators, the notable detail is that a firm whose roots are in liquid and structured credit has scaled a first-time private lending vehicle at this size, at a time when many investors have been concentrating commitments with established direct lenders. It also underscores that headline deployment figures for credit funds often include fund-level leverage, so equity commitments and investable capacity are not the same number.