Axa fans the flames in the capital - April 12, 2010
The wind blows hard recovery Axa Private Equity. In recent months, the French giant's capital is moving on all fronts. His latest feat of arms should be implemented by mid-May through the acquisition of travel booking site on the Internet Go Voyages. As announced in Le Figaro on Friday, the fund has topped the pole Axa Permira and Carlyle to enter into exclusive negotiations with the duo of Groupe Arnault and CNP, a holding company owned by the Belgian financier Albert Frere. The deal would value Go Travel between 300 and 350 million euros.
"We have built for years a strategy of diversifying geographically and by business line (investment, direct fund of funds, infrastructure …). The crisis has largely confirmed our choice ", says Dominique Senequier, who chairs AxaPE.With 25 billion dollars of assets in the portfolio, AxaPE plays in the yard of the largest global funds and in France is arguably one of the "winners" of the crisis. "The rise of AxaPE has been facilitated by the particular difficulties of PAI," said one investment banker.
In February, AxaPE Spotless sold, the manufacturer of Water Scarlet, to BCPartners for nearly 600 million euro cash advance america. Its collection infrastructure is also left on top speed. Allied to the Deposit in a consortium led by Vinci, he won the huge contract in late March from 7.8 billion euros to build the TGV Tours-Bordeaux.A month and a half earlier, Vinci and AxaPE were also selected, this time to install a GSM network in the trains, a contract for 1.4 billion euros.
Negotiations with KBC
As for funds of funds, a job that involves identifying the best managers to invest in their funds, AxaPE poised to grow. The group has entered into exclusive negotiations with NatixisPE in February to resume portfolio (valued 543 million euros) iXEN, NIPartners and Initiative & Finance. Axa is also advanced negotiations for the acquisition of part of the portfolio of 300 million euros at KBC.
"We now have 7 billion dollars in cash. We can move very quickly on opportunities, "says Dominique Senequier.Asked about the likelihood of a sale of its entity by the parent, the insurer Axa, the ruling notes that "AxaPE is part of the multi-expertise of AXA Investment Managers.