Babson Capital Management held the final close of Gateway Mezzanine Partners II, LP with $177.2 million in commitments from investors.

Gateway Mezzanine Partners II leverages Babson’s deep experience in private credit investing, and is managed by Babson’s Sydney- and Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific investment teams. The fund’s mezzanine debt strategy is focused primarily on private equity-sponsored transactions involving middle-market companies across developed Asia Pacific jurisdictions including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.

“Babson is pleased with the extremely positive reception to Gateway Mezzanine Partners II, which exceeded our fundraising target and includes commitments from investors in Gateway Mezzanine Partners I, existing investors in other Babson products and new clients,” said Eric Lloyd, head of Global Private Finance for Babson. “We believe this is a recognition of Babson’s track record of more than 20 years as an active investor in the mezzanine asset class, the top-quartile performance of Gateway Mezzanine Partners I against funds of similar vintage and public indices, and the outstanding work of our Asia Pacific Private Credit Group, led by Adam Wheeler in Sydney and Shane Forster in Hong Kong.”

Managing more than $29 billion, Babson’s global private credit platform includes mezzanine and private equity teams based in the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific. The teams’ local market presence provides meaningful insight, ensuring they make better-informed investment decisions across each region. Earlier this year, Babson was named Most Active Non-Bank Lender in the Asia-Pacific region for 2014 by the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association.

Gateway Mezzanine Partners II is approximately 18% committed with investments in five platform companies, one of which has been fully realized.