Tikehau Capital
Tikehau Capital is a Euronext-listed French alternative asset manager whose large pan-European private debt platform provides direct lending and bespoke corporate credit to SMEs and mid-caps, including in the UK.
What they do
Tikehau Capital is a listed alternative asset manager (founded 2004; €52.8bn group AUM at 31 December 2025) whose credit platform — c. €25bn, roughly 47% of group AUM — is one of the larger private debt franchises in Europe. Its direct lending strategy provides tailor-made debt financing to European SMEs and mid-caps, predominantly through first-lien instruments (unitranche and stretched senior), alongside senior, mezzanine, preferred equity and leveraged loans. The platform states deal sizes spanning roughly €3m to €300m and lends across France, Spain, Italy, Benelux and the UK, acting as arranger or financer. UK-facing activity runs through Tikehau Capital Europe Limited (FCA-authorised, FRN 647919) at 30 St Mary Axe, London.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Tikehau is most naturally a counterparty at the upper end of, and above, Solon's 3–£15m range — typically sponsor-backed acquisition unitranche and growth financings for established mid-caps where a single relationship lender can write and hold a sizeable bilateral cheque. For a borrower at the larger, more structured end of the lower-mid-market (toward and beyond 15m, with a clear equity story or PE sponsor), they are a credible, well-capitalised provider of flexible first-lien capital with the balance sheet to scale facilities as the business grows. They also bring genuine ESG-margin-ratchet capability for borrowers with a decarbonisation angle.
Where they are not the fit
For a sub-£10m unsponsored corporate borrower seeking a straightforward bilateral facility, Tikehau is unlikely to be the right fit: the platform's stated band starts around €3m but its deployment, fund scale and franchise are oriented toward larger mid-market and sponsor-led transactions, where the work-to-quantum economics make sense. Founder-owned businesses without a sponsor, or those wanting clearing-bank-style working-capital and overdraft facilities rather than term private credit, will generally find more natural counterparties elsewhere. It is a fund, not a relationship bank.
On the record
Tikehau Capital is a French alternative asset manager founded in 2004 by Antoine Flamarion and Mathieu Chabran, headquartered in Paris.
Tikehau Capital listed on Euronext Paris (Compartment A) on 7 March 2017; ticker TKO.
Tikehau Capital managed €52.8bn in assets under management as of 31 December 2025, with 717 employees across 17 countries.
Tikehau's credit platform managed €25.0bn AUM as of 31 March 2026, representing 47% of group AUM across 271 portfolio companies, spanning senior, stretched senior, unitranche, mezzanine, preferred equity and leveraged loans.
Tikehau's private debt teams arrange/finance transactions (senior, unitranche, mezzanine) for sizes between roughly €3m and €300m.
The Direct Lending strategy targets European SMEs and mid-caps mainly in France, Spain, Italy, Benelux and the UK; the sixth vintage reached approximately €3.5bn AUM as of 30 June 2025.
Tikehau topped European direct-lending deal rankings for the France and UK & Ireland regions in 2023; it acted as sole arranger of a €95m unitranche backing BC Partners' acquisition of healthcare moulding maker IGS GeboJagema.
UK-facing activity runs through Tikehau Capital Europe Limited, authorised and regulated by the FCA (FRN 647919), registered office 30 St. Mary Axe, London EC3A 8BF.
Tikehau Capital Europe Limited (company number 09154248) was incorporated on 30 July 2014, status Active, registered at 30 St. Mary Axe, London EC3A 8BF; SIC 64999 (financial intermediation n.e.c.).
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.