Audax Private Debt Closes $1 Billion Private Credit Continuation Vehicle, Led by Pantheon

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Audax Private Debt, a leading provider of financing solutions for the middle market, and Pantheon, a leading global credit secondaries solutions investor, announced the closing of Audax Direct Lending Solutions Fund I CV (“DLS I CV”), a $1.0 billion private credit continuation vehicle.

“We believe this transaction underscores the strength and stability of the DLS I portfolio, our commitment to underwriting discipline, and our longstanding credit-first approach, which have contributed to our performance across market and economic cycles,” noted Kevin Magid, Chief Executive Officer of Audax Private Debt. “It also speaks to our ongoing efforts to deliver flexibility to our investors and optimize outcomes across our many stakeholders, from new and existing limited partners to our private equity sponsor relationships.”

The continuation vehicle was established to acquire a diversified, income-generating portfolio of first-lien senior secured loans and related equity co-investments from Audax Private Debt’s Direct Lending Solutions Fund I, which closed on $1.65 billion in capital commitments in January 2019. Pantheon led and structured the CV transaction.

Through the CV structure, Audax will continue to manage and monitor the assets in the fund. The DLS strategy was launched by Audax Private Debt in 2018, leveraging the firm’s experience and underwriting capabilities across senior secured and junior debt products.

“We’ve known the Audax team for decades and are excited to partner with them to complete this investment,” said Rakesh Jain, Global Head of Private Credit at Pantheon. “As lead investor, we applied our credit, scale and GP solution expertise to deliver a tailored solution, accessing a high-quality, income-generating portfolio.”

“We believe the CV provides a compelling solution to manage fund-maturity cycles for our investors, while positioning ourselves as a long-term partner to sponsors,” noted Steve Ruby and Rahman Vahabzadeh, Audax Private Debt Managing Partners. “The DLS I CV provides a truly bespoke solution for our investor base, calibrated to meet and deliver outcomes aligned to their longer-term needs. We’re excited to partner with Pantheon and believe their structuring expertise and partnership-centric approach helped to make them an ideal partner for this transaction.”

PJT Partners served as financial advisor on the transaction. Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal counsel to Audax Private Debt, and Hogan Lovells served in the same capacity for Pantheon.

About Audax Private Debt

Based in New York, Audax Private Debt is a leading debt capital partner for North American middle market companies. Since its inception in 2000, the firm has invested $52 billion in support of over 295 private equity sponsors. Audax Private Debt provides tailored financing solutions for its clients through a comprehensive range of offerings that includes first lien, stretch senior, unitranche, second lien, and subordinated debt, as well as equity co-investments. Audax Private Debt is an experienced and trusted partner with senior leadership averaging 35 years in private credit and 23 years working together at the firm through multiple economic cycles.

For more information, please visit audaxprivatedebt.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Pantheon

Pantheon has been at the forefront of private markets investing for more than 40 years, earning a reputation for providing innovative solutions covering the full lifecycle of investments, from primary fund commitments to co-investments and secondary purchases, across private equity, infrastructure, and private credit. For more information, please visit www.pantheon.com.

We have partnered globally with institutional investors of all sizes as well as a growing number of private wealth advisers and investors, with approximately $85bn in discretionary assets under management (as of September 30, 2025).

Leveraging our specialized experience and global team of professionals across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, we invest with purpose and lead with expertise to build secure financial futures.