March 17 (Reuters) - New York Stock Exchange-parent

Intercontinental Exchange ( ICE ) said on Tuesday it haslaunched

a product to bring greater transparency to the private credit

market, an asset class beleaguered by heightened investor

concerns.

Sentiment toward the private credit market has weakened amid

worries about valuations and transparency, amplified by last

year's bankruptcies of auto-parts supplier First Brands and car

dealer Tricolor.

The product, ICE Private Credit Intelligence, will aim to

let firms securely share deal information with approved partners

using a common data set, reducing the risk of exposing sensitive

details. It will use ICE's technology to pull key terms from

deal documents and distribute data more efficiently.

The platform will also add new tools over time, including

performance analysis and pricing insights, to support portfolio

management, risk assessment and improve market transparency.

"As private credit continues to scale, the next phase of the

market's evolution will require stronger infrastructure and more

standardized data that enables market participants to own and

transact in private credit in a way that mirrors the public

credit experience," said Eric Needleman, partner and head of

Apollo Capital Solutions.

Apollo Global, a major player in the private credit

market, is supporting the launch as an anchor partner, ICE said.

ICE plans to onboard other originators, asset managers and

capital markets participants over the coming months, it added.

Several major U.S. banks have tightened lending standards,

while private-credit funds owned by alternative asset managers

have limited withdrawals as investors move to pull out billions

of dollars.

Shares of such fund managers have declined as investors grow

concerned about valuations of software firms they own or finance

due to potential AI-driven disruption.

Turmoil in the private credit market has led Apollo to

reportedly prepare plans to start shelling out monthly net asset

values for its credit funds, a move that could pressure rivals

to follow suit.