Wendel completes the acquisition of a 51% stake in IK Partners, a major step in the deployment of its strategic expansion in third-party private asset management

  

Wendel completes the acquisition of a 51% stake
in IK Partners, a major step in the deployment of its strategic expansion in third-party private asset management

Wendel (Euronext: MF.FP), today announced the completion of the acquisition of 51% stake in IK Partners (“IK”), following regulatory approvals.

As part of this initial transaction, Wendel will invest a total of 383¹ million euros, or c. 12.5 times the estimated 2024 pre-tax Fee Related Earnings (“FRE”)², to acquire 51% of IK’s shares. Wendel Group is also entitled to 20% of carried interest generated on all future funds raised by IK.

The 383 million euros will be paid by Wendel in two stages:

• 255 million euros today, following the transaction closing,
• 128 million euros on May 14, 2027, subject to certain conditions.

The remaining 49% of IK’s capital will be acquired by Wendel in subsequent transactions, which will take place between 2029 and 2032³, in accordance with the announcements made on October 17, 2023.

Wendel's ambition is to build a sizeable platform managing multiple private asset classes, alongside its historical principal investment activity. The development of this platform will provide Wendel with recurring cashflows and exposure to the performance of multiple asset classes. Wendel’s ambition is to reach 150 million euros in FRE by 2027 in third-party private asset management. Wendel plans to reach this level through double-digit organic growth of its activities, supplemented by external growth in new asset classes.

Wendel's new business model is designed to enable the development, over time, of a value-creation platform with the potential to generate operational synergies.

A European private equity leader

Founded in 1989, IK is one of Europe's leading private equity firms, with teams across seven of Northern European countries focusing on the mid-market segment. The Company invests in the Business Services, Healthcare, Consumer and Industrials sectors in Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK.

IK manages 11.8⁴ billion euros of private assets on behalf of third-party investors and since inception, has invested in over 180 companies.

Laurent Mignon, Wendel Group CEO, commented:
"We are very proud to embark on this new entrepreneurial stage in Wendel's development with the acquisition of a high-quality company like IK, sharing the same values and investment philosophy.

The partnership with IK is a major step in the deployment of our new strategy announced in 2023. It will form the foundation of the private asset management division we are building.