Private equity firms take 20% stake in France's Primonial

Private equity firms BlackFin Capital Partners and Latour Capital have taken a 20% stake in Paris-based asset manager Primonial in a move aimed at financing its growth ambitions.

BlackFin is taking a 20% interest while Latour will hold the remaining 10%. The transaction is believed to have been sealed for a price of around €30 mln.

Upon completion of the deal, Primonial's management will hold just over one third (35%) of the group's capital, while shareholder Crédit Mutuel Arkéa is retaining the 45% stake acquired in July 2014.

Primonial, one of the largest real estate asset managers in France, said 'the capital transaction allows the group to strengthen its capital position with partners who will work to accompany the company's development'. To speed up its growth process, the firm is believed to be considering the acquisition of smaller asset managers in the near future.

Primonial's real estate investment management arm raised a total of €1.5 bn last year, making it the single largest fundraising for SCPI vehicles in 2014. The equity raising brought its total property assets under management to over €4 bn, up 40% on the previous year.