Alantra Group agreed to acquire a 24.5% minority stake in private markets firm Access Capital Partners from Finnish financial services firm OP Financial Group, an Access spokeswoman said.
OP Financial will remain a shareholder for three years before selling the rest of its holdings to Alantra, a global investment banking and asset management firm, the spokeswoman added. OP Financial's total stake in the manager was just less than 49%.
The acquisition of the initial stake was valued at €19 million ($21.8 million), Alantra said in a news release. In 2022, Alantra will have an option to purchase the remaining shares held by OP Financial, the release said. Alantra will also have the right to 2018 profits to be paid as a dividend in 2019.
Access, with €8.8 billion ($10 billion) in assets under management, will team up with Alantra to boost fundraising and introduce offerings in private equity, infrastructure and private debt investments beyond Europe through primary and secondary funds of funds, direct and co-investment funds and customized client solutions.
Alantra's acquisition of Access will boost its assets to €11 billion.
"We believe Access and its strong leadership team are the right partners to further scale our existing asset management activity," Alantra Chairman Santiago Eguidazu said in a separate news release.
Agnes Nahum and Philippe Poggioli, managing partners of Access, said in the release that the deal "gives us the opportunity to reaffirm our independence ... and it broadens the share ownership among a wider group of partners."
Ms. Nahum and Mr. Poggioli will remain managing partners and maintain the controlling share in the company.
The deal is pending regulatory approvals in a number of jurisdictions including France, Guernsey, the U.K. and Finland.
