AXA IM Alts has acquired capital and private debt financing firm Capza, according to a news release.
AXA IM Alts is now the majority shareholder of Capza and will increase its position to full ownership of the firm by 2026. AXA IM Alts has acted as a minority investor and shareholder since Capza’s formation in 2004.
The size of the deal was not disclosed.
The acquisition marks AXA IM Alts’ entry into the private equity leveraged buyout market, a sector it has identified as of strategic importance.
AXA IM Alts is AXA Investment Managers’ alternative business unit and had about €184 billion ($198.6 billion) in asset under management as of March 31. Both AXA IM and Capza are based in France. AXA IM's overall AUM was €844 billion as of Dec. 31.
Capza is a private investment platform focused on mid-market corporates across private debt and private equity in the EMEA region and has more than €9 billion of AUM.
Former Capza managing director Maxence Radix will become chief executive of Capza, replacing the firm’s founder Christophe Karvelis-Senn in the role. Karvelis-Senn will remain as a member of investment committees and will take on the role of chairman of the supervisory board of Capza.
Radix will lead the management of the private equity leveraged buyout franchise, which will become the fifth business line of AXA IM Alts, alongside real estate, alternative credit, infrastructure and natural capital, and impact investments. Capza’s Benoit Choppin will also support the development of a flexible equity strategy. Radix will join AXA IM Alts’ management board.
“This transaction is the culmination of over two decades of successful collaboration”, said Isabelle Scemama, global head of AXA IM Alts, in the news release.
“Adding the entire Capza business, a pioneering European private investment platform dedicated to small and mid-cap companies, to AXA IM Alts’ platform is a major milestone.”
Guillaume de Jongh and Jean-Marc Fiamma will continue to co-lead Capza’s private debt franchise, which is intended to complement the AXA IM Alts’ alternative credit platform led by Christophe Fritsch.
All existing AXA funding commitments to Capza funds remain in force and effect. The completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2024.
