Blackstone Gives $2.2 Billion Loan as Private Debt Sets Records

Blackstone Group Inc. teamed up with other lenders to provide $2.15 billion of financing directly to Cambium Learning Group Inc., bypassing banks in one of the biggest such loans that investors have made.

Companies have been getting bigger and bigger loans straight from investors without banks intermediating, as money managers have grown eager to deploy a record $364 billion of funds they’ve raised to provide this kind of financing. The Cambium deal, known as a unitranche, is the third largest new direct loan on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Blackstone led the $2.15 billion deal that will ...