Partners Group Reinforces Credit Defences and Overhauls Buyout Unit as Shares Sit 38% Lower

Partners Group has moved to ring-fence roughly EUR 6 billion of refinancing across three portfolio companies, leaning on narrowly drawn loan covenants to keep distressed-debt specialists off the register. The Swiss asset manager is shielding the debt of services group Emeria SASU, industrial belting maker Ammega Group BV and watchmaker Breitling AG, all of which falls due in 2028, according to Bloomberg.

The clauses are designed to stop hedge funds from buying the loans on the cheap and then using their position to complicate restructuring or refinancing talks. It is a familiar playbook for private equity houses keen to keep negotiations on their own terms.

Partners Group said it has already wrapped more than USD 49 billion of refinancings, capital raises and repricings across its private equity portfolio since 2024.

Buyout desk trimmed as headcount stays in range

The refinancing work comes alongside quieter changes inside the firm. Bloomberg reported that Partners Group has cut or reassigned dozens of roles in its private equity division worldwide. A company spokesperson framed the moves as part of the regular employee performance review process, and the firm pushed back on talk of a lasting drain, saying headcount in the buyout segment remains within its long-term average.

On the product side, the group plans to split its flagship Global Value SICAV into two separate vehicles — a distribution portfolio for older holdings and a growth portfolio for newer ones — the Financial Times reported. The fund had previously capped redemptions at 5% per quarter to ease liquidity pressure, and the split is intended to better match the differing investment horizons of its investors.

New credit vehicle targets high-single to low-double-digit returns

Roughly two weeks ago the firm launched a global multi-sector private credit income strategy, structured as an open-ended evergreen vehicle for institutional clients and wealthy private investors. It targets high-single-digit to low-double-digit percentage returns, generated mainly from running interest income.

Management has also put its own money behind the business. Members of the leadership bought shares privately in early October for about CHF 21 million, per media reports; the SIX disclosures covering the purchases included some structured, non-listed instruments and were not made up solely of direct share purchases.

Market backdrop remains unforgiving

The stock closed Friday at EUR 655.20, down 38% since the start of the year and 5.2% above its 52-week low. Higher financing costs and softer corporate valuations have made this a testing year for private equity firms, and how cleanly the EUR 6 billion of refinancings clears will go a long way toward deciding how much planning certainty Partners Group regains across its largest holdings.