AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) announced that it has agreed to buy W Capital Management, a US-based private equity firm specializing in GP-led and direct secondary investments. WCP will remain within AXA IM Prime, AXA IM’s fully integrated investment solutions provider across private markets like private equity, private debt, infrastructure, and hedge funds.
Launched in 2001, W Capital Partners has provided secondary market liquidity solutions to private equity General Partners (GPs). With this deal, AXA IM affirms its ambition to diversify further its private market offerings in the growing and evolving private equity secondaries sector, which saw more than $85 billion raised and $111 billion in transaction volumes in 2023.
In addition, AXA IM Prime will strengthen its presence in North America, including the US, one of the most critical regions for secondaries investing. WCP will benefit from additional exposure and deal flow in the US and globally.
Along with the acquisition, AXA has committed $200 million to WCP’s secondaries investment strategy.
The deal’s completion is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to take place in Q2 2024.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are delighted to join forces with W Capital Partners, which is well-established in the US and known for its strong expertise. It is a unique opportunity to provide our clients with access to new sources of value creation while scaling WCP’s platform.”
– Marco Morelli, Executive Chairman of AXA IM
“This acquisition is another significant step for AXA IM Prime. Our vision since launching in 2022 is to be a leading global full-service capital solutions provider to GPs in the rapidly growing private markets. We had identified GP-led and direct secondaries as a key strategy for our portfolio of private equity products and had been looking for an approach that would combine the right levels of creativity, valuation skills and structuring expertise. We found the perfect partner in W Capital Partners and are excited about this new alliance, which will bring differentiated and high value investment strategies for our clients”.
– Pascal Christory, Chief Executive Officer of AXA IM Prime
“We are thrilled to be joining AXA IM Prime. As a pioneer in GP-led and direct secondaries, this partnership will allow us to deliver, at a larger scale, the relationships and structuring expertise we have worked hard to develop for our GP partners and our investors. With a common culture and vision, we look forward to working closely with the Prime team to provide a range of solutions in our rapidly growing and highly innovative market.”
– David Wachter, Managing Partner and co-founder of W Capital Partners
