Maine backs Tennenbaum direct lending fund for $100 mln

  • Tennenbaum had circled more than $1 bln for Fund VIII in February
  • Final close expected for later this year
  • MainePERS PE program delivers 19.8 pct one-year return

 

Maine Public Employees Retirement System at its meeting last week approved a commitment of up to $100 million to Tennenbaum Capital Partners’ eighth direct lending fund, according to a retirement system spokesperson.

It’s unclear how much Tennenbaum plans to raise for TCP Direct Lending Fund VIII, which will invest in North American mid-market companies. In February, Buyoutsreported the firm held a second close on more than $1 billion for the credit and special-situations fund. At the time, Tennenbaum was said to be anticipating a final close for later this summer.

“Taken as a whole, the terms and conditions offered by TCP Direct Lending Fund VIII are favorable compared to industry standards, and create the proper alignment of interest between the manager and MainePERS,” an investment memo obtained via public-records request says.

MainePERS staff redacted detailed terms from its investment memos. Tennenbaum declined to comment.

MainePERS held 10.2 percent of its assets in private equity as of July 31, well short of the $13.5 billion retirement system’s 15 percent long-term target, according to an investment report obtained by Buyouts.

The $1.37 billion PE portfolio delivered a 19.8 percent trailing one-year return for the period ending June 30, according to MainePERS’s investment report. The portfolio fell short of its benchmark by 2.3 percentage points.

Action Item: For more information on MainePERS, visit www.mainepers.org