(Bloomberg) -- Private credit funds at Apollo Global Management Inc. and Goldman Sachs Asset Management are among firms working on a plan to provide a €4.5 billion ($4.8 billion) loan to back a take-private bid for classifieds company Adevinta ASA, according to people familiar with the matter.

If it goes ahead, the loan would be the largest direct lending deal ever in Europe, topping the £3.5 billion ($4.3 billion) provided to Access Group last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Adevinta said last month it received a non-binding takeover proposal from a private equity consortium that includes Blackstone Inc. and Permira. The buyout firms are weighing financing options from investment banks and direct lending funds. 

Other private lenders involved in the financing plan with Apollo and Goldman include Sixth Street Partners, HPS Investment Partners and Intermediate Capital Group as well as Blackstone’s own credit unit, according to people familiar with the matter who aren’t authorized to speak publicly. The financing is structured as a unitranche, which is a blend of senior and subordinated debt, the people said.

Spokespeople for Apollo, Goldman, HPS, ICG and Sixth Street declined to comment. Representatives for Blackstone and Permira declined to comment.

Investment banks are competing with direct lenders for the Adevinta financing, but the size of the euro-denominated loan makes it difficult to raise in the European leveraged loan market, the people said. A recent leveraged loan deal of over $5 billion to fund GTCR’s purchase of a majority stake in Worldpay Inc. saw substantial demand but only a small portion was offered in euros.

Club Deals

The $1.5 trillion private credit market has become an increasingly popular source of buyout financing in recent years as global banks — which look to underwrite loans and then sell them to public-debt investors — became cautious about lending amid fears of an economic slowdown.

Direct lenders are increasingly clubbing together to get bigger deals done, while the size of the potential Adevinta deal also underscores the rapid rise of the asset class, in which $1 billion private loans would have been rare as recently as four years ago.

In the US, direct lenders set a new record in August with a $5.3 billion debt package to fund Vista Equity Partners’ refinancing of fintech firm Finastra Group Holdings Ltd.’s debt. That loan was provided by a group of private lenders including Oak Hill Advisors LP, Blue Owl Capital Inc. and HPS.

Read: Private Credit Loans Are Growing Bigger and Breaking Records

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