Apollo Global Management has launched a European private credit platform with more than 10 billion euros, about $11.2 billion, of lending capacity, the firm said on Monday. The platform, called the European Credit Company (ECC), will make performing corporate and asset-backed loans across Europe’s large and mid-market sectors, including lending to real asset owners in infrastructure and real estate.
The backer list is the point. Alongside capital from Apollo’s own vehicles, the platform is backed by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, European insurance group Athora, Japanese lender Norinchukin Bank, Standard Chartered and US credit investor Aranda Principal Strategies. Sovereign, insurance, bank and specialist credit capital are being pooled inside one standing lender rather than raised fund by fund.
ECC will be led by chief executive Giacomo Petrobelli, with veteran investment banker Christian Meissner as chairman. Apollo said the platform has a presence in Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg City and Milan, and will work alongside the wider Apollo franchise while focusing exclusively on Europe.
The launch lands a week after Apollo agreed to buy a nearly 10 percent stake in Mubadala Capital, the alternative asset manager owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, deepening the firm’s Gulf capital relationships in both directions: Abu Dhabi money into Apollo platforms, and Apollo equity into an Abu Dhabi manager.
Apollo is explicit about the gap it is filling: banks continue to pull back from traditional corporate lending in Europe, while the continent’s spending plans in defence, energy and infrastructure are raising demand for large, flexible private loans. Moody’s estimates, cited in the launch coverage, put private credit assets under management above $2 trillion in 2026 and approaching $4 trillion by 2030.