EQT buys secondaries pioneer Coller Capital for $3.2B
What's the deal? European private equity firm EQT ABDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has acquired Coller CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a pioneer of the private equity secondaries market, for a base consideration of $3.2 billion. The combined business will be renamed Coller EQTDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and continue focusing on LP-led and GP-led secondary transactions.
The terms: EQT acquired 100% of Coller's management company and the general partner entity controlling its funds, plus a 10% carried interest stake in its latest flagship fund, Coller International Partners IX. A contingent payment of up to $500 million in cash is tied to Coller's performance in the 12 months ending March 2029.
What each side brings: Founded in 1990 by Jeremy Coller, the firm is one of the earliest and largest secondaries (S fund) managers, with $55 billion in assets and offices in London, New York, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Seoul. EQT gains a new private secondary business segment alongside its private capital, infrastructure, and real estate arms.
What changes: Coller EQT operates as a standalone segment, with Jeremy Coller named head and chief investment officer. Core Coller managers are set to receive about 64% of the contingent consideration and have committed to reinvest the net proceeds into EQT ordinary shares.
Why now? Secondaries have moved from a niche to a mainstream liquidity tool as investors seek exits amid slow distributions. Coller built the category, including its 1998 purchase of ShellDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s US pension fund alternative portfolio for $265 million in two and a half weeks — an early landmark trade.
The China angle: Coller has been active in China, becoming in 2021 the first foreign S fund manager with a Beijing presence and later completing RMB-denominated GP-led deals with Legend Capital and GSR Ventures.
The signal: The deal folds a 36-year-old specialist into a diversified alternatives platform, underlining how large managers are buying scale in secondaries as the asset class matures.
Read more: eu.36kr.com
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