TORONTO (October 28, 2021) – The Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (“IMCO”) is investing US$500-million with Antares Capital LP (“Antares”), a leading provider of financing to mid-market private equity-backed companies in North America. IMCO's platform investment forms the foundation of the direct lending component of its Global Credit strategy and aims to build a diverse portfolio of sponsor-backed loans in the middle-market, focusing on U.S. and Canadian borrowers. The portfolio will be diversified across industry and sponsors and will target 75-100 issuers.

Antares is a private debt credit manager and a leading provider of innovative financing and investment solutions for PE-backed borrowers and investors. With US$42.9-billion of capital under management and administration, it has one of the industry's largest and longest-tenured portfolios of mid-market companies. IMCO selected Antares as its private debt manager following a competitive process.

“Private debt lending provides stable returns and aligns well with IMCO's tolerance for illiquidity and our long investing horizon,” said Jennifer Hartviksen, Managing Director, Global Credit, IMCO. “Antares has a 25-year track record investing across markets and industry cycles, and our new direct lending program will benefit from Antares' broad suite of lending capabilities.”

“We are very pleased to utilize our market leadership position and select access to high-quality private market investment opportunities to support IMCO in achieving their clients' risk-reward objectives,” said Vivek Mathew, Head of Asset Management and Funding, Antares Capital. “IMCO is a like-minded, purpose-driven institution and we're proud to have customized a solution allowing their clients to capitalize on the growth we drive within the middle market.”

IMCO's Global Credit portfolio invests across a range of public and private credit market segments including corporate bonds and loans, real estate and infrastructure debt, off-balance sheet financing loans, emerging markets debt, high yield bonds and leveraged loans to generate higher risk-adjusted returns than traditional fixed income, adding diversification benefits to a total portfolio for IMCO's public sector clients. The Global Credit program is differentiated by its broad approach to portfolio construction, making strategic allocations to liquid/illiquid securities, geographies and across the risk spectrum. Our experienced team has decades of diverse experience investing across credit segments, geographies and at all stages of the credit cycle. As of December 31, 2020, IMCO's Global Credit portfolio had $4.6 billion AUM. The portfolio is expected to grow to $8 billion or more by 2025.