Samsung Life Insurance has acquired a minority stake in Hayfin Capital Management, expanding its presence in the rapidly growing private credit market, Bloomberg reports.

The deal follows a management buyout of the London-based lender earlier this year and brings Samsung Life alongside Mubadala Investment Co. and AXA IM Prime as strategic shareholders.

Arctos Partners, which helped finance the buyout, is distributing part of its Hayfin holding to Samsung Life, after previously doing so for Mubadala and AXA IM Prime. Tim Flynn, co-chief executive of Hayfin, said the firm has long prioritised attracting large strategic backers. “That’s been our playbook literally since the day we started — we have partnered with big allocators,” Flynn said.

Hayfin manages about €34bn ($40bn) in assets, ranking among Europe’s largest private credit lenders. Recent transactions include unitranche loans to Belgian drugmaker SERB Pharmaceuticals and used-car platform Constellation Automotive Group. Beyond private credit, Hayfin also invests in liquid credit and private equity secondaries.

The move reflects intensifying interest from insurers in private credit, a $1.7tn asset class that competes with high-yield bonds and leveraged loans and is projected by Preqin to reach $2.8tn by 2028. Samsung Life’s investment follows Legal & General’s partnership with Blackstone, which aims to deploy up to $20bn into the sector over the next five years.

If you think we missed any important news, please do not hesitate to contact us at news@pe-insights.com.

Can`t stop reading? Read more.