HedgeCo.Net — KKR has closed its first private credit continuation vehicle with more than $460 million of total commitments, PitchBook reported, citing market sources. Allianz Global Investors was the lead buyer. The vehicle holds the assets of KKR Lending Partners III, a $1.5 billion direct lending fund that completed fundraising in 2017.
Existing investors were given the choice of selling their interests for liquidity or rolling into the new vehicle on substantially the same terms. Evercore advised KKR and Debevoise acted as legal counsel. According to a KKR 10-Q cited by PitchBook, KKR Lending Partners III had generated an 11.0% net IRR and a 1.7x multiple on invested capital as of June 30, 2026.
AllianzGI has become a repeat lead in this niche. It is also the lead investor on Blackstone’s $1 billion private credit continuation vehicle and co-led Crescent Capital’s $3.2 billion credit continuation vehicle earlier this year. Allianz has invested in private credit since 2007, and AllianzGI launched its first dedicated private credit secondaries fund in 2022.
Credit continuation vehicles have moved quickly from novelty to mainstream. Evercore data cited by PitchBook showed credit secondaries volume in the first half of 2026 alone surpassed full-year 2025 volume of $20 billion, with continuation vehicles making up most of it.
For limited partners in older direct lending vintages, the structure offers an exit without forcing a manager to sell loans into the market. The trade-off is familiar from private equity GP-leds: rolling investors extend their exposure to a seasoned book, while buyers such as AllianzGI price that book, which makes the terms of these deals an increasingly useful read on how secondary capital values aging private credit portfolios.