Apollo Global Management has signed a definitive agreement to acquire alternative investment manager Bridge Investment Group Holdings in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion.
Founded in 2009, Bridge focuses on residential and industrial real estate as well as other specialized real estate asset classes, said a Feb. 24 news release.
Bridge will provide Apollo with “immediate scale to its real estate equity platform and enhance Apollo’s origination capabilities in both real estate equity and credit, which is expected to benefit Apollo’s growing suite of hybrid and real estate product offerings,” the release noted.
Bridge manages approximately $50 billion of assets in real estate products targeting both institutional and wealth clients.
Upon the closing of the transaction, Bridge will operate as a standalone platform within Apollo’s asset management business, retaining its existing brand, management team and dedicated capital formation team. Apollo has about $77 billion in real estate assets under management.
Robert Morse, Bridge’s executive chairman, will become an Apollo partner and lead Apollo’s real estate equity franchise.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.
Neal Epstein, vice president with Moody’s Ratings private credit team, commented that Apollo’s acquisition of Bridge “extends its investment capabilities in areas that align with it strategic objectives.”
Bridge, Epstein noted, is one of the largest private equity real estate managers with $22 billion in fee-paying assets under management and that it has “strong capabilities in residential real estate equity, as well as capabilities in real estate debt and mid-market secondaries, with significant capital sourced from high net worth and wealth management channels.”
The acquisition will boost a number of Apollo’s strategic objectives, Epstein added, including “growing its global wealth business and expanding its alternative management capabilities in real estate.”
As of Dec. 31, Apollo had approximately $751 billion of assets under management.
