What on Earth is Private Credit Anyway?
Let’s be honest, the term sounds dreadfully dull. But think of it this way. You have small businesses that can get a loan from their local bank, and you have giant corporations that can issue bonds or sell shares to the public. In between lies a vast, underserved territory, the so called middle market. These are solid, often family-run companies with revenues in the tens or hundreds of millions. They’re too big for a simple loan but too small for the grand theatre of an IPO. For years, traditional banks have been backing away from them, leaving a rather convenient gap.
Into this gap stepped a group of specialised lenders known as Business Development Companies, or BDCs. They’ve been quietly making a living by providing flexible capital to these forgotten middle children of the economy. Now, with the big banks sniffing around, the game could be about to change.