KKR closes first private credit continuation vehicle at $460M, led by AllianzGI
What's the deal? KKR has closed its first private credit continuation vehicle with more than $460 million in commitments, with Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →) acting as lead buyer. The vehicle holds the assets of KKR Lending Partners III, a $1.5 billion direct lending fund that finished fundraising in 2017.
How it works: Existing investors were given a choice — sell their stakes for liquidity or roll into the new fund on substantially the same terms. The structure lets KKR return capital without being forced to sell loans into the market.
The performance: KKR Lending Partners III posted an 11.0% net internal rate of return and a 1.7x multiple on invested capital as of June 30, 2026. Evercore advised KKR; Debevoise acted as legal counsel.
Why now? Credit continuation vehicles have moved quickly from novelty to mainstream. Evercore data 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.
A repeat buyer: AllianzGI has become a fixture 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 launched its first dedicated secondaries fund in 2022.
"This investment provides access to a diversified portfolio of predominantly senior, US-focused direct lending investments," AllianzGI said. George Mueller, a partner in KKR's credits and markets division, said the firm was "pleased to expand our relationship with AllianzGI through this transaction."
The signal: KKR's vehicle is modest beside Crescent's $3.2 billion fund, but it marks the firm's first such deal in private credit. As more managers follow, the terms of these deals offer an increasingly useful read on how secondary capital values aging private credit portfolios.
Read more: hedgeco.net
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