Alternative investment consulting firm Aksia is acquiring real estate consultant Alignium in an all-cash purchase, with the transaction expected to close at the end of the year, said James Vos, Aksia CEO, and Dan Krivinskas, Alignium managing principal.
The purchase price was not disclosed. Aksia has $160 billion in assets under advisement and $10 billion in assets under management. Alignium has about $2 billion in assets under advisement.
Mr. Vos said he wanted to buy Alignium to provide Aksia's clients with specialized help in real estate investments. An additional benefit is gaining the expertise to analyze investments such as co-investments or funds for clients that touch more than one alternative investment asset class, such as real estate credit strategies.
"We would need some credit people looking at it, but you'd also better understand the real estate market, too," he said in an interview.
Aksia also plans to create property level risk analytics similar to the analytics the firm has for other asset classes, including private credit.
Aksia has been growing, having completed the acquisition of TorreyCove Capital Partners in April.
All five Alignium executives will be asked to join Aksia, including Mr. Krivinskas, who will be invited to join as a partner, while Mark Bartmann and Scott Krouse will be invited to join as managing directors. Messrs. Bartmann and Krouse are currently managing principals. Mr. Krivinskas said in an interview that he will accept the offer.
"Frankly, we enjoyed being independent. But seeing Aksia's global capability and resources around the world, it really was compelling," Mr. Krivinskas said. "It provides us with a footprint to expand to more markets and to meet our clients' expectations in terms of sourcing opportunities as well."
