European direct lending hits a half-year record as Q2 volumes slide

European direct lending posted a record first half in 2026, but the headline is front-loaded: Debtwire's league table puts H1 volume at €63.16bn, higher than any other half-year on record, with the first quarter's 'especially vibrant' big-ticket activity providing the bulk. The second quarter came in at €28.4bn across 296 deals, down 25% from the €38bn over 367 deals in Q2 2025 and down from €34.8bn in Q1, even as deal count barely moved from 303 to 296.

The H1 table reinforces the split: Ares leads with 31 new deals and roughly 7.8% of the market, Arcmont follows at 23 deals and 5.8%, and Apollo rounds out the top three at 20 deals and 5.0%. Together, the top three account for 18.6% of H1 volume—a concentration that makes the cost of funding as important as origination to the margin.

The top three's real advantage sits on the funding side, and the CLO reset wave is private credit's funding valve: as this publication has argued, managers that treat securitization as permanent financing rather than an exit get the cheapest cost of capital. Ares was among four managers to price nearly $2bn of US CLO resets earlier this month, and its European lead suggests the same playbook is working across markets.

The second half will separate the record from the run-rate. If the large-cap pipeline refills, the H1 total becomes the base for a full-year record. If it does not, the second quarter's €28.4bn is the real market, and the managers holding committed capital are the ones who will need their CLO vehicles to stay deployed.