US Investors See Opportunities in Europe Amid Market Uncertainty

Reporting: Emily Fasold

Sponsors and direct lenders are paying closer attention to European targets as the Trump administration’s tariff and immigration policies are expected to create a more uncertain landscape for many borrowers in the United States, according to panelists speaking at the SuperReturn Conference in Miami this week.

Scott Spielvogel, a co-founder and managing partner at One Rock Capital Partners, said his firm is avoiding targets that are overly vulnerable to inflation and tariff fees under the new administration.

The potential impact that Trump’s immigration policies could have on the unskilled labor market has also become “a major area of concern” for One Rock, which invests in middle market companies in the industrials, chemicals, and food and beverage sectors, he said.

With the political and macroeconomic backdrop expected to strain earnings for some U.S. companies, Spielvogel said his firm has been “leaning more into Europe” through the London office that it opened in 2023.

He pointed to One Rock’s acquisition of a European chemicals manufacturer in the building product space several years ago as an example of one of the firm’s lucrative overseas investments. While he acknowledged that the company’s volumes are down about 10% from when it acquired the business, he said One Rock was able to “pump out record EBITDA” in the fourth quarter of 2024 “primarily because we were able to get that asset super cheap.”

While Spiegovel did not name the target, a press release shows that One Rock invested in German adhesive resins and formulations manufacturer Prefere Resins Group in April 2022.

“It may be a little counterintuitive, but we’re seeing some really compelling opportunities in Europe, even though the expected growth rate in many developed European economies is only 1% or less,” he said.

“There’s been less capital formation there, but it’s enabled us to counteract some of the opportunities with a really low price and use operational improvements to really affect the trajectory of that business.”

Curtis Lueker, a managing director and head of direct lending at Marathon Asset Management, said he has also been seeing strong opportunistic deals “all across Europe,” particularly in the United Kingdom.

“There are a lot of really good and interesting opportunities in Europe right now,” he said. “If you look at the public equity markets right now, they are way down in the U.S., but Europe is ripping, which kind of speaks to the attractiveness of that market right now.”