Comvest, Manulife Launch $18.4B Private Credit Platform Deal

Key Takeaways

Manulife Investment Management acquired Comvest Partners.
Geography: United States.

Analysis

West Palm Beach, FL – August 6, 2025 – In a major development in the private credit sector, Comvest Credit Partners has sold a 75% stake in its credit business to Manulife, through its Global Wealth and Asset Management division. The deal forms a new $18.4 billion private credit asset management platform, co-branded as Manulife | Comvest.

Comvest’s $14.7 billion AUM platform will merge with Manulife’s $3.7 billion AUM Senior Credit team, establishing a powerhouse in middle market direct lending. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2025, pending regulatory approval.

Comvest will maintain full control over day-to-day operations, investment decisions, and strategy execution. The firm will also lead fundraising and distribution in partnership with Manulife’s global sales network across institutional, wealth, and retirement channels.

Michael Falk, Founder of Comvest, emphasized the importance of partnering with a firm that shares Comvest’s long-term approach, credit expertise, and internal culture. Robert O’Sullivan, CEO and Co-Founder, will lead the new platform, which will continue to focus on senior secured, unitranche, and second lien lending across sponsor-backed and founder-led businesses.

Anne Valentine Andrews, Global Head of Private Markets at Manulife, highlighted the opportunity to build a world-class alternative credit platform to serve the growing needs of Manulife’s 19 million global clients. The combined firm will aim to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns throughout market cycles.

The partnership arrives at a time when private credit is expanding rapidly as investors seek higher yields and portfolio diversification amid volatility in public markets. The platform will benefit from both firms’ deep sourcing relationships and capital strength, enabling it to scale in a competitive environment.

Similar transactions across the global private credit landscape further underscore this consolidation trend:

Goldman Sachs Asset Management expanded its private credit unit through the acquisition of NNIP’s credit business, targeting European middle market borrowers.
Blackstone Credit partnered with Mubadala to launch a multi-billion dollar direct lending fund focused on North America and Europe.
Blue Owl Capital merged with Oak Street to gain scale across real estate-linked credit strategies, boosting total AUM past $175 billion.
Brookfield Asset Management recently raised a $20 billion global private credit fund, emphasizing unitranche and opportunistic credit solutions.

These moves reflect a broader push by large asset managers to offer institutional-grade, scalable private credit solutions amid growing borrower demand and limited traditional bank lending capacity.

AMG, a minority investor in Comvest since 2020, will exit its credit stake after closing. It will retain ownership in Comvest’s private equity division, which will become a separate entity with no changes to its team or investment process.

BofA Securities advised Comvest exclusively on the transaction, with Kirkland & Ellis acting as legal counsel.

This partnership positions Manulife and Comvest as a major force in global private credit and reflects the next wave of institutional evolution in the alternative lending ecosystem.