abrdn has agreed to sell its European-headquartered private equity business, which holds £7.5bn in assets, to Patria Investments for £60m in cash.
The asset manager said the decision to sell the business followed a strategic review of its alternatives division, which concluded that the capital raised from the sales of some of abrdn's private equity business would be "better deployed" within its core investment business.
abrdn recently completed the sale of its $4bn US private equity and venture capital business to US-based alternatives boutique HighVista Strategies. The sale to Patria is expected to complete in the first half of 2024.
Patria offered an upfront consideration of £60m in cash, with a secured deferred consideration of £20m plus interest to be paid 24 months following completion. A further payment of up to £20m will be paid, subject to performance targets, three years from completion.
abrdn completes sale of $4bn US private equity and venture capital business to alternatives boutique
Stephen Bird, CEO of abrdn, said: "The sale of our European-headquartered private equity business to Patria Investments closely follows the completion of the sale of our US-headquartered private equity business to HighVista Strategies.
"This latest sale marks further progress in the reshaping of our investments business in line with previous guidance. We are continuing to reduce complexity and are focusing on areas where we are confident we can drive growth in the future."
In April, Reuters reported abrdn had been unable to find a buyer for its entire private equity business, which held £12bn in AUM. The report also stated the firm would be planning to split the division and sell it in batches to attract more bids.
The package of assets spans the UK, US and continental Europe, and its sale has been pushed by investors in order to boost declining returns and offload non-core assets.
