Unigestion acquires European rival Akina

The combined business - which will have $6 billion in assets - will trade under the Unigestion name, and the two private equity teams will be combined under the leadership of Unigestion’s current head of private equity, Christophe de Dardel. Existing products from Akina and Unigestion will retain the same investment strategies.

Unigestion has $20 billion in assets under management across private equity, hedge funds, public equities and multi-asset investing. Over 70% of its private equity money is in customized solutions that offer a combination of primary fund commitments, secondary investments and direct investments, as well as exposure to asset classes such as infrastructure and private debt.

The company established an Asia presence in 2007, opening an office in Singapore, and last year appointed Edouard Merette, former managing director at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), as non-executive chairman of its Asia board. Unigestion's GP relationships in the region include renewable energy-focused Armstrong Asset Management.

Akina focuses on the middle and lower end of the European market through both direct and fund investments. Last month the firm closed its latest fund, Euro Choice VI, at EUR410 million ($437 million).

“Joining forces with Unigestion is the perfect next step for our business and our clients,” said Christopher Bödtker, managing partner of Akina, in a statement. “With greater scale and deeper resources we will have a really exciting proposition in global small to mid-market private equity, which we are more passionate than ever about developing. We look forward to a bright future together.”

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• Topics
• Europe
• Buyout
• Fund-of-funds
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• Unigestion