Colesco Capital: Sustainable direct lending platform raises over €800m in its first close

28 januari 2025

Colesco, a sustainability-led direct lender with a mission to unite capital and purpose, has raised in excess of €800m in its first platform close, welcoming APG and Rabobank as cornerstone investors.

Colesco’s investment strategy targets attractive returns while delivering real life impact, by supporting leading European mid-market businesses that contribute to the transition to a more sustainable society. Backed by its proprietary Responsible Investment Framework, Colesco is committed to making over 50% of sustainable investments[1] with the remaining in companies who demonstrate a clear pathway to becoming a sustainable investment over time. In addition, over and above realising financial returns, half of the performance-related fees are directly connected to realising the platform’s sustainability KPIs.

Colesco strives to make transitional investments in companies that are providing solutions to environmental and societal challenges, with a focus on three core themes: Sustainable Food, Energy Transition, and Inclusive Society.

Through robust credit underwriting, sustainability integration and measurement, Colesco simultaneously combines the ability to deliver real life impact with a no compromise model – generating alpha by selecting assets that yield attractive risk adjusted returns while meeting both the sustainability and credit quality bar. Colesco will provide regular and comprehensive reports on the outcomes of investments by including the use of sustainability KPIs and the IRIS+ framework to clearly translate impact intentions into measurable results.

Both APG and Rabobank are sustainability-led investors who share Colesco’s investment philosophy and vision. This clear strategic alignment explains their participation as cornerstone investors in the first close of the platform.

Menno van den Elsaker, Head of Alternative Credits at APG commented: 'At APG, on behalf of our clients ABP, bpfBouw, and PPF APG, we are committed to establish leading sustainability investment practices within the (European) private credit market. In Colesco, we have found a partner that shares this ambition. Colesco stood out as one of the few managers able to deliver on our requirements with respect to sustainable investments and to deliver attractive investment returns for our clients in a responsible manner. With this investment we are especially excited to support the sustainable growth ambitions of companies in the Netherlands.'

Stefaan Decraene, Chair of Rabobank’s Managing Board said: 'This investment is a testament to the confidence we have in Colesco. Its strategy is in line with Rabobank’s mission to grow a better world together. By working with partners like Colesco, we can help to accelerate the sustainable transitions needed to future-proof the food and energy systems across the globe.'

Danny Vroegop, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Colesco said: 'The first closing of our platform represents a significant milestone. It demonstrates our added value in the current European direct lending market and highlights how specialised managers that align with specific themes can be very relevant to the current needs of investors.'

Robin van den Brandhof, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Colesco added: 'We are proud to welcome APG and Rabobank as our cornerstone investors – two like-minded partners with sustainability at their heart. They are both strongly committed to supporting the mobilisation of institutional capital to aid the sustainable transition of businesses across Europe and have put their trust in Colesco to help them deliver on this.'