Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager by AUM, is to buy an almost 10% stake in London-based alternatives asset manager ICG for an undisclosed sum as part of a push into private markets.
Based on Monday’s closing price, the stake would be worth around £550m.
The two firms also announced they would enter into a ten-year long-term distribution and equity partnership to develop private markets products managed by ICG and distributed by Amundi targeted at wealth investors ICG plc.
A press statement said that both firms would initially focus on developing two European evergreen funds, in private equity secondaries and private debt but “are committed over time to broadening their range of investment strategies and products appropriate for wealth investors”.
Paris-based Amundi will be the exclusive global distributor for ICG’s evergreen and certain other products.
Benoît Durteste, CEO and CIO of ICG, said: “Our long-term strategic partnership with Amundi is a meaningful step forward in the development of ICG’s strategy to access the wealth channel in a way that is clearly additive and complementary to our strong existing institutional offering.
“The combination of ICG’s investment expertise and entrepreneurial mindset with Amundi’s structuring capability and extensive distribution network creates a differentiated partnership with substantial potential, and materially accelerates our ability to access and shape the evolving wealth channels for private markets.”
Valérie Baudson, CEO of Amundi said: “This partnership with ICG, a recognised and diversified leader in private markets, represents a remarkable opportunity to offer our distributor clients and the entities and clients of the Crédit Agricole group access to high-performing strategies with a proven track records historically reserved for institutional investors.”
