Private equity firm EQT agreed to acquire real estate manager Exeter Property Group in a $1.8 billion deal.
EQT's real assets capability currently has €19.3 billion ($23.5 billion) in assets. Exeter is a value-add logistics and industrial space U.S. and European real estate business with $10 billion in assets under management.
The transaction is subject to antitrust and other clearances and is expected to complete in the second quarter, an EQT spokesman said.
The deal will be financed with $800 million worth of EQT shares and $1 billion in cash, including $300 million of existing Exeter debt that is being refinanced. Ward Fitzgerald, Exeter's CEO, and other Exeter management who are shareholders will be paid 65% in the newly issued EQT ordinary shares and 35% in cash.
EQT will also acquire the right to carried interest in selected existing Exeter funds, including Exeter US Industrial Value Fund V, a news release said.
"We are excited to accelerate our strategy of building a globally-scaled real estate platform and diversifying the firm within private markets by joining forces with Exeter. We have a high bar for strategic M&A, and Exeter is one of the few opportunities we have identified which clears and well surpasses it," Christian Sinding, CEO and managing partner of EQT, said in a news release Tuesday. "With its value-creation-focused investment approach, one of the strongest track-records in value-add real estate globally, and importantly, a people-and-performance-centric culture, we are all well-aligned. I am delighted to welcome Ward and the Exeter team to the EQT family, and we are looking forward to working together to take EQT Exeter to the next level," he added.
