Ares Management and GE Capital announced that the European Senior Secured Loan Program (ESSLP), a €1.75 billion joint venture between affiliates of the two firms, has provided a £187 million (approximately $291.6 million) financing package to fund the acquisition of Open GI, a UK-based software company, by Montagu Private Equity.

The acquisition was primarily funded via the ESSLP unitranche facility, which provides flexible and deliverable financing solutions of scale. Additional second lien and working capital facilities were provided by Ares and GE, respectively.

This is the second ESSLP financing provided to Montagu this year. In March, the programme provided €110 million in unitranche financing, which enabled them to acquire Netherlands-based DORC Holding BV, a leading provider of innovative instruments and equipment for ophthalmic surgery.

Michael Dennis, partner in the Direct Lending Group at Ares Management, said: “This is a meaningful transaction for us for several reasons. It is the 11th financing completed within the ESSLP and is also the largest to date. The combination of unitranche and second lien financing in the same deal once again demonstrates the flexibility of capital that Ares and GE can provide.”

Ruud Kole, executive director at GE Capital, said: “This is our second Unitranche transaction this year with Montagu and serves to highlight the growing awareness amongst the sponsor community of the benefits of Unitranche funding. The significant size of the deal also underpins the ability of the product to provide a one-stop solution for large funding needs.”