One of Europe’s leading specialist debt providers has become the latest firm to look to take advantage of an expected multi-billion euro gap in mainstream funding with the launch of a new $850m fund.

European firm MezzVest is to begin raising its latest fund, Mezzvest III, later this month. The firm focuses exclusively on providing mezzanine finance - which is a form of debt that ranks low in a company's capital structure - to European mid-market private equity deals.