Abrdn offloads private equity arm for £60m as Bird’s ‘reshaping’ drive accelerates
Abrdn has offloaded its European private equity business to a Nasdaq-listed investor for £60m today as bosses press ahead with plans to simplify the investment giant globally.
In a statement this morning, Abrdn confirmed it had sold its European-headquartered private equity firm to Nasdaq-listed Patria Investments just weeks after offloading its US division to High Vista strategies.
The European arm has some £7.5bn assets under management but Abrdn has been looking to slim down its wider alternatives business in a turnaround drive under chief Stephen Bird.
Abrdn said it had decided the cash generated from the sale of its private equity divisions “would be better deployed within our core investment business”.
“This latest sale marks further progress in the reshaping of our Investments business in line with previous guidance,” Bird said in a statement.
“We are continuing to reduce complexity and are focusing on areas where we are confident we can drive growth in the future.”
Patria has agreed to pay £60m in cash up front for the firm, with an additional consideration of £20m plus interest and a further £20m subject to the “performance of the business three years from completion”.
Bird has been looking to breathe life into the firm after a testing few years for Abrdn. The firm snapped up retail investment platform Interactive Investor for £1.5bn in a deal seen as a success by analysts. The division’s assets grew by four per cent in the first half of the year while its operating profit more than doubled to £67m.
However, Abrdn’s core funds business saw operating profit fall by 66 per cent year-on-year as clients continued to pull funds amid a tricky market backdrop.