LONDON, July 6 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Man Group (EMG.L) is getting into the hot private credit market, by buying a majority stake in lender Varagon Capital Partners for $183 million. Private credit, which involves managers like Ares Management (ARES.N) or Blackstone (BX.N) making bilateral loans to mostly private equity buyouts, has been one of the hottest areas in fixed income. Low rates encouraged investors to hunt for yield, and has seen mainstream managers like T. Rowe Price (TROW.O)join the fray. They will be rewarded with further payments if they extend their commitments, and Man hopes to use its network to broaden Varagon’s investor base. Given private credit managers like Fortress have traded at more than double that multiple, it looks like a relatively savvy deal.

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Persons: Rowe Price, Neil Unmack, Aimee Donnellan, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Man, Capital Partners, Ares Management, AIG, Fortress, Twitter, KKR, Thomson Locations: Varagon’s, China