Private credit club deals—transactions in which several direct lenders join together to provide a loan to a single borrower—grew in popularity over the last few years. Private equity firms prefer to engage multiple lenders to fund a new loan, as a lender group can ensure the capacity of incremental debt that may be used to fund prospective add-ons or other growth opportunities. In addition, having several lenders on the deal enables sponsors to navigate negotiations when an amendment needs to be made, such as extending the maturity, restructuring covenants or seeking workout agreements if the borrower underperforms. In some large unitranche transactions there are more lenders than there need to be because a sponsor wants to present creditors with the opportunity to be in their deals, agreed Kristopher Ring, Debt Finance partner. More on PitchBook.