Bridgepoint-backed Primonial buys 40% of LFDE

Francesca Veronesi
06 December 2017

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Bridgepoint's financial services company Primonial has acquired 40% of French asset manager La Financière de l'Echiquier (LFDE), which has acquired the asset-management activities of Primonial.

Primonial's acquisition of LFDE shares has been supported by its shareholders, Bridgepoint, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and the company's management. The founders of LFDE, Didier Le Menestrel and Christian Gueugnier, have retained a majority stake.

The agreement also established that LFDE would acquire the asset management activities of Primonial, AltaRocca Asset Management and Stamina Asset Management, which operate under the Primonial Investment Managers brand name.

Didier Le Menestrel, the founder and current chairman-CEO of LFDE, will continue to chair the board of directors. However, Christophe Mianné will become LFDE's CEO, while retaining his current position as deputy CEO of Primonial Group in charge of asset management.

Established in 1989 and headquartered in Paris, Primonial is a financial services company that offers investment solutions to wealth management professionals and their clients. As of December 2017, the group had €16.66bn in assets under management, according to press reports. The company has 579 employees.

In November 2016, Bridgepoint acquired just under half of Primonial. The GP took over from previous owners BlackFin Capital and Latour Capital, which entered the group in 2015. As part of the deal, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa retained a 35% stake in the group, while company management held the balance, amounting to around 15%.

Company
Created in 1991, LFDE is a French independent asset management company with more than €8bn in AUM and 100 staff. After the acquisition of Primonial's asset management activities it will manage more than €10bn. It manages savings and financial investments for retail customers, wealth management advisers and institutional customers. Headquartered in Paris, the company also operates in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Benelux.

People
Bridgepoint – Benoît Bassi (partner).
Primonial – Stéphane Vidal (CEO).
La Financière de l'Echiquier – Didier Le Menestrel, (chairman).

Advisers
Equity – Rothschild & Co (M&A): DLA Piper (legal); Acetis Finance (commercial due diligence).
Company – Angelin & Co (commercial due diligence); Sygna Partners (legal).