About This Fund
Apera Private Debt Fund III is the third flagship private debt fund of Apera Asset Management, a specialist pan-European private credit manager founded in 2016 and headquartered in London, with additional offices in Munich, Paris, and Luxembourg. The fund held its final close on 30 April 2025, securing total commitments of €2.9 billion including co-investment vehicles and leverage, surpassing its original hard cap. This represents a more than twofold increase over its predecessor, Apera Private Debt Fund II, which closed in July 2022 at €1.27 billion. The fund attracted capital from a broad international base of institutional investors—including pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, and endowments—with particularly strong participation from Northern Europe, Asia, and North America. Domiciled in Luxembourg, the fund was structured with legal counsel from Debevoise & Plimpton.
Fund III pursues Apera's core private debt strategy of providing senior secured unitranche financings to lower mid-market companies across Western Europe. The fund targets businesses operating across the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, France, and Benelux, with individual investment tickets typically ranging from €15 million to €100 million. Apera emphasises bespoke, relationship-driven financing solutions for companies demonstrating downside resilience, competitive market positioning, and attractive growth prospects. The firm favours prudent capital structures characterised by low leverage and strong equity support from private equity sponsors. With a team of over 50 investment professionals distributed across four European offices, Apera deploys deep local market knowledge and established sponsor relationships in each of its target geographies.
Apera was co-founded in 2016 by Klaus Petersen, David Wilmot, and Robert Shaw and has built a consistent generational track record in European lower mid-market private credit. Its debut vehicle established the direct lending platform, while Fund II attracted €1.27 billion at final close in July 2022, exceeding its initial €800 million target. The growth in Fund III to €2.9 billion reflects compounding institutional confidence in Apera's origination capability and credit performance across economic cycles. The firm's standing was further validated when Franklin Templeton announced an agreement in 2025 to acquire a majority stake in Apera Asset Management—a transaction expected to close in the third quarter of 2025—integrating Apera's European private credit franchise into one of the world's largest global alternatives platforms.