AXA Private Equity raises $3b for secondary fund

The French insurer's private equity arm has bought more than $5 billion in portfolios from banks in the last 18 months as lenders divest non-core assets to free up their balance sheets. It acquired a $740 million portfolio of private equity interests from Barclays and $1.7 billion from Citi in June. Last year it scooped up portfolios from Bank of America and Natixis worth $1.9 billion and $718 million, respectively.

As banks move to comply with the Volcker rule, which limits investments they make with their own capital, as well as the increased capital requirements that come with Basel III, further sales are expected. Benoit Verbrugghe, head of AXA Private Equity's US operations, said the company could deploy close to $1 billion in the next 12 months.

Lexington Partners recently closed its latest secondary fund at $7 billion, making it the largest-ever secondaries offering. Last year, it bought a private equity portfolio from Lloyds Banking Group valued at $731.7 million and, with StepStone Group, co-led the purchase of $1.1 billion in private equity assets from Citigroup. It was also among the buyers as Bank of America Merrill Lynch sold off $1.2 billion in commitments to funds managed by Warburg Pincus.

Secondary market deal volume reached nearly $21 billion last year, according to Dow Jones, and it is expected to reach record levels in 2011.

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• Topics
• Europe
• North America
• Fundraising
• Secondaries
• AXA Private Equity Asia
• Lexington Partners