Singapore’s Temasek forms $7.5 billion private debt platform

Temasek joins other major investors that have piled into the roughly $2 trillion sector, despite growing voices of concern about risks due to interest-rate cuts and overcrowding.

Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte has set up a private credit platform with an initial portfolio of about S$10 billion ($7.5 billion) in a bid to seize more opportunities in the burgeoning asset class.

The portfolio will consist of direct investments and credit funds, Temasek said in a statement Friday. The wholly owned platform will be managed by a team of around 15 in New York, London, and Singapore transferred from Temasek’s Credit & Hybrid Solutions team.

Temasek joins other major investors that have piled into the roughly $2 trillion sector, despite growing voices of concern about risks due to interest-rate cuts and overcrowding. BlackRock Inc., the world’s biggest asset manager, this month agreed to buy private credit firm HPS Investment Partners for about $12 billion.

The platform will be led by Nicolas Debetencourt, who has been Temasek’s head of credit and hybrid solutions since 2016. It will be separate from Temasek-owned Seviora Group, which includes SeaTown Holdings International. The latter said in August it raised $1.3 billion for its second private credit fund, bringing its assets under management to over $2.5 billion.

Temasek’s total portfolio was valued at S$389 billion as of end-March, split between public and private assets.