Carlyle Group

The firm's risk profile has not altered, executives said on a third-quarter earnings call Wednesday; it remains "appropriately cautious."

A growing number of asset managers are waking up to the opportunity to lend to small and medium-sized companies, and much of this direct lending is making its way into the securitization market.

The $449.2 million Carlyle Direct Lending CLO 2015-1R is the 11th deal the global alternative asset manager has refinanced this year.

While Carlyle has been judicious with new issuance, it had a busier second quarter in refinancing older deals; several more will be ripe for refinancing in the third quarter.

It's another example of what appears to be tailoring tranches to meet the tenor and yield requirements of specific investors; the deal, GMS Euro CLO 2014-1, was also upsized to €508 million from €368.3 million originally.

Like the sponsor's February transaction, this one is backed by midsize and larger business jets, a volatile asset class; it amortizes more slowly and has looser restrictions on extending the terms of leases and loans.

“We’re comforted by the fact our position in the market is so strong, and our ability to gain [loan] allocation is quite important," co-CEO Kewsong Lee says.

The €413 million transaction will issue exchangeable notes for the five senior tranches, allowing regulated U.S. banks the opportunity to invest, even though the portfolio includes bonds.

The new transaction, the $608 million Business Jet Securities, Series 2018-1, is less than half the size of the $1.48 billion deal pulled in September; it also appears to be less risky, by several measures.

Carlyle has raised an additional $800 million for "opportunistic" debt and equity investments of third-party CLOs, in a planned expansion of its $19.4B in structured credit business assets under management.