What this paper examines
The paper charts how direct lending moved from the margins to the mainstream of Gulf mid-market finance. It examines the drivers on both sides: bank retrenchment from precisely the borrowers — mid-sized developers, industrials and sponsors — who most need flexible capital, and investor appetite for the yields and structures that direct lending offers.
It then compares private credit against traditional bank lending across the dimensions that matter in practice — speed of execution, structural flexibility, covenant design, relationship dynamics and total cost — and develops a decision framework for borrowers weighing the two. A dedicated section takes the investor’s perspective on the asset class.
Why it matters now
For a generation of GCC borrowers, bank debt was the only institutional option — and its conservatism set the boundary of what could be financed. That boundary has now moved. Sponsors who understand when private credit is the better tool, and what lenders in this market actually require, can finance transactions banks decline and move at a speed banks cannot match. The paper’s conclusion is that private credit is a distinct product, not merely expensive bank debt, and treating it as such changes how borrowers should approach it.
Key questions it answers
- What is driving the structural growth of direct lending in the Gulf, and is it durable?
- Where does private credit genuinely outperform bank debt — and where does the bank remain the right answer?
- How should a borrower prepare for and run a private credit process, and what do these lenders look for?
- What does the asset class offer investors, and how does the GCC opportunity compare with developed-market direct lending?
Who should read it
Mid-market business owners, developers and CFOs across the Gulf weighing financing routes; family offices and institutions considering private credit as an allocation; and bankers and advisers who need a clear-eyed view of how the competitive landscape for mid-market lending has shifted.
How this applies to live mandates
Debt advisory and private credit placement sit at the centre of Matchpoint Partners’ practice. The borrower framework in this paper reflects how we qualify mandates and match them to the lender universe — bank, fund or family office — on live transactions. The full paper includes the complete comparison framework and supporting analysis.
