A $1.4 billion deal caused shares in Bridgepoint Group plc to jump 17% today.
The valuation of the mid-market investor hit £2.4bn following the news of its move to acquire Kayne Anderson Real Estate, with the combined firm to hold $117bn in Assets Under Management spanning private equity, credit, infrastructure, real estate and secondaries.
Expected to complete at the end of 2026, subject to shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and fund consents, the deal comprises $759 million of cash and approximately 189 million newly issued Bridgepoint Shares, with further consideration subject to management fee-related performance hurdles.
UK-headquartered and -listed Bridgepoint’s share price remains 3% down in the year to date.
Florida-based Kayne Anderson’s latest flagship fund, KAREP VII, raised $5.12bn – nearly double the size of its predecessor. Its management and investment team, led by Al Rabil, will continue to manage the business under a new Kayne Bridgepoint brand.
The transaction will deepen Bridgepoint’s presence in the US, broaden its sources of recurring fee income and create attractive opportunities across product development, fundraising, investor coverage and platform collaboration, the firm said.
Raoul Hughes, chief executive of Bridgepoint, commented: “This marks another major step forward in our strategy to strengthen our position as a leading global middle-market private markets platform.
“Real estate is a growing private markets asset class and Kayne Anderson Real Estate has built a leading position as a scaled specialist with an exceptional track record and strong fundraising momentum.”
Tim Score, chair of Bridgepoint, commented: “Kayne Anderson Real Estate is a high-quality business with an outstanding management team, a strong track record and leading positions in attractive areas of the US real estate market.”
Rabil commented: “For the last 20 years, we have built a scaled real estate platform focused on mission-critical alternative sectors where we believe long-term fundamental tailwinds and operational complexity create compelling investment opportunities.
“We are in the beginning of a super cycle for the alternative real estate sectors on which we focus, and joining together with Bridgepoint provides additional global resources to capitalise on this opportunity and support our continued growth.”