French bank Natixis has signed an agreement to sell its proprietary private equity activities to AXA Private Equity for EUR534m.
As per the agreement, AXA will acquire Natixis’s iXEN Partners and NI Partners, and also Initiative & Finance Gestion business.
According to Natixis, the assets sold and the new funds will be managed or advised by the existing teams, which will operate on a freelance basis.
Under the terms of the agreement, a fund advised by AXA Private Equity shall acquire the investment entities concerned on the basis of a global IFRS value of EUR534m, to which may be added an earn-out based on the portfolio’s performance, i.e. a discount of around 7.6% on fair market value as at December 31, 2009 and the new investments made.
Completion of the deal is conditional upon obtaining the necessary regulatory authorizations (in particular, those of the Autorite des Marches Financiers covering portfolio management companies) and could take place during September 2010.