StepStone Group, a private markets manager and consultant, agreed to acquire Greenspring Associates, a venture capital and growth equity manager, for $725 million.
The deal, for $540 million in equity and $185 million in cash, is expected to close before the end of the year, a spokesman said in an email.
The acquisition, which will provide StepStone with an opportunity to expand its venture capital and growth equity capabilities, will create a combined team of more than 70 investment professionals focused on those areas.
As measured by the firms' combined assets under management as of March 31, it represents about $22 billion in venture capital and growth equity AUM, a news release said Wednesday.
Also as of that date, Greenspring had more than $17 billion in AUM.
"StepStone is thrilled to add Greenspring, a company and talented management team we have long admired, to our private markets platform," said Scott Hart, partner and co-CEO at StepStone, in the news release. "Joining forces with Greenspring allows StepStone to scale our venture capital and growth equity capabilities, further broadening the menu of private equity solutions as we seek to build the highest quality portfolios for our clients. We are pleased to welcome Greenspring founder and managing general partner Ashton Newhall, managing general partner Jim Lim, and the entire Greenspring team as the newest members of the StepStone team."
Messrs. Newhall and Lim and the other Greenspring Associates partners will join StepStone as partners on its private equity team, and the Greenspring funds will be renamed as StepStone funds, the spokesman said.
As of March 31, StepStone had $86 billion in AUM and $340 billion in assets under advisement.
