A string of new investors including LGT Capital Partners, Aberdeen Standard Investments and Grosvenor have agreed to enter Primonial Group's share capital and support the group's international growth strategy.
Under the deal, major investors Crédit Mutuel Arkea and Bridgepoint will respectively dispose of and reduce their investment in the company, allowing new players such as a consortium led by Latour Capital to enter the group's capital. The consortium includes international players such as LGT Capital Partners from Liechtenstein, Aberdeen Standard Investments, and Grosvenor Capital Management.
Separately, Société Générale Assurances will acquire 18.5% of the capital via the general assets of its life insurance and capitalization firm, Sogecap.
Upon completion, France’s pre-eminent independent asset management group Primonial will be 35% by the Latour Capital investor group, while London-based private equity firm Bridgepoint will reduce its investment from 56% to 35% and Crédit Mutuel Arkea will no longer hold a stake in the company. The Group’s management team and employees will retain 11%.
The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
'The transaction announced today will enable the Primonial group to continue its strong development with the support of a majority of financial shareholders, thus guaranteeing the Group’s independence,' the company said in a statement.
Stéphane Vidal, president of the Primonial Group, said: 'Since 2016, we have been moving toward our strategic objective of becoming one of the European leaders in wealth management and asset management. This evolution of our Group's capital will free new resources to accelerate our international expansion and facilitate access to new asset classes. Following the acquisition of LFDE (La Financière de L'Echiquier), one of the most prestigious brands in active management of listed companies, we will now focus on the design of complementary solutions in the alternative environment.'
The Primonial Group had over €42 bn of assets under management at end June 2019. Real estate represents a major part of the group’s business, with the property activities largely managed via the Primonial REIM subsidiary, which was launched in 2011 as a joint venture with UFF Banque serving both the retail and institutional markets.
