AXA in Exclusive Deal to Sell Stake in Private Equity Division
France’s AXA Group announced that its asset management subsidiary, AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM), has received an irrevocable offer from an investor group for its entire stake in AXA Investment Managers Private Equity SA (AXA Private Equity).
AXA said the transaction would enable it to monetize its interest in AXA Private Equity, a business it has developed since 1996.
The acquiring investors would be composed of AXA Private Equity’s senior management, led by Dominique Senequier, a group of institutions and French family offices and AXA Group. AXA Private Equity’s 298 employees would be given the opportunity to participate in the transaction through a dedicated vehicle. Post-transaction, AXA would continue to invest in private equity through AXA Private Equity funds, the company said.
AXA said that upon the completion of the proposed transaction, AXA Private Equity’s voting share capital would be held as follows:
- AXA Private Equity’s management and employees: 40.00 percent
- External investors: 33.14 percent
- AXA Group: 26.86 percent
The transaction would value AXA Private Equity at €510 million [$643.5 million] for 100 percent and the sale of AXA IM’s entire stake would result in AXA IM receiving a total consideration up to €488 million [$628 million]. The consideration would be divided into an upfront payment of approximately €348 million [$448 million] and deferred consideration up to €140 million [$180 million], to be paid in installments subject to achieving certain targets and meeting certain conditions, according to the announcement.
Senequier, the CEO of AXA Private Equity, said the new structure for AXA Private Equity “would deliver continuity valued by our clients, keep entrepreneurialism at the heart of what we do, and build a platform for new opportunities and broader horizons.”
The proposed transaction is subject to customary conditions and should be finalized before the end of the third quarter 2013.
Source: AXA Group