By Alban Kacher
(Reuters) -French investment company Wendel will acquire U.S. asset investment firm Monroe Capital, it said on Tuesday, with an initial investment of $1.13 billion for 75% of the company’s shares.
Wendel’s asset management platform is expected to generate about 185 million euros ($200 million) of pre-tax profit in 2025, the group said in a statement.
With the acquisition, Wendel said it expects to benefit from the surge in demand for private credit solutions and to further build up its asset management business, providing it with “recurring and growing cashflows as well as exposure to multiple and high performing asset classes”.
In October 2023, Wendel announced the acquisition of private equity firm IK partners for 383 million euros ($404 million), as part of its strategy to build up an asset management arm to boost fees-based sales.
“Our transformation to a dual-strategy model is now well grounded,” group CEO Laurent Mignon said on Tuesday.
Wendel said it would also invest $1 billion in Monroe’s capital to support the company’s growth.
Monroe Capital will retain its brand and continue to operate autonomously with the group’s investment committee remaining independent, it added.
It expects the transaction to be complete in the first half of 2025.
(Reporting by Alban Kacher; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Kirsten Donovan)
