Barings said it helped arrange more than A$180 million ($118 million) of senior secured credit facilities to back Australian private equity firm Adamantem Capital’s acquisition of veterinary services provider Apiam Animal Health.
The investment manager said it acted as a co-lead arranger on the financing package, marking its second partnership with Adamantem in the past 12 months.
Financial terms beyond the headline size of the facilities were not disclosed.
Apiam, headquartered in Victoria, operates a national veterinary services platform with 84 sites, primarily across outer metropolitan areas and urban growth corridors in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, Barings said.
The company provides clinical services for companion animals, along with pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and herd-health solutions for livestock.
Barings said it viewed veterinary services as a defensive, structurally growing segment supported by “non-discretionary” demand for animal healthcare.
It also cited rising annual spend per pet, the maturation of the COVID-era pet cohort into higher-spend life stages, and industry consolidation opportunities in a fragmented market.
“Apiam represents a high-quality platform in a sector underpinned by non-discretionary demand,” Justin Hooley, head of Asia Pacific private credit at Barings, said in a statement.
He added that Apiam’s footprint and service mix position it for longer-term growth, and that Barings drew on experience from comparable investments in Europe and the United States as well as due diligence on the Australian market.
The transaction adds to Barings’ private credit activity in Asia Pacific, which it said it has been building for about 15 years through teams based in Hong Kong and Sydney.
Those teams sit within Barings’ global private finance platform, which the firm said includes more than 110 investment professionals and a 30-year track record of providing financing to sponsor-backed companies.
Barings, a unit of U.S. life insurer MassMutual, said it manages more than $481 billion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Adamantem, founded in 2016, manages more than $2 billion and invests across Australia and New Zealand through a mid-market buyout strategy and an environmental opportunities strategy aimed at businesses supporting the transition to net zero, Barings said.
Business News Asia
