PGIM is to acquire Montana Capital Partners (MCP), a European-based private equity secondaries asset manager. The closing of the transaction is subject to receipt of all regulatory approvals.
Upon closing, expected in Q3 2021, MCP will join PGIM’s multi-manager structure under the oversight of Eric Adler, president and chief executive officer of PGIM Real Estate. MCP’s co-founders Dr Christian Diller and Dr Marco Wulff will continue to manage the business and serve as co-chief executive officers.
“PGIM’s multi-manager model is based on the belief that highly specialised investment teams with expertise in an asset class allow us to remain focused on delivering investment outperformance on behalf of our clients,” says David Hunt, president and chief executive officer of PGIM. “Montana Capital Partners’ deep expertise in private equity secondaries, coupled with its strategic and cultural alignment with PGIM, make it the right partner to further enhance our alternatives capabilities.”
Following the acquisition, MCP will maintain investment autonomy and independence, with its fully committed team headquartered in Switzerland, while benefitting from PGIM’s global distribution, sourcing and operational, compliance and regulatory support.
Bringing together the benefits of global scale and deep asset-class expertise across public and private markets, PGIM seeds, develops, and manages a broad range of liquid and alternative strategies for some of the largest institutional investors globally. The acquisition of MCP significantly enhances PGIM’s existing alternatives offering, which is currently USD253 billion in assets under management in strategies across PGIM Fixed Income, PGIM Real Estate, PGIM Private Capital, Jennison Associates and QMAW.
“We are thrilled to welcome the MCP team to PGIM,” says Eric Adler, president and CEO of PGIM Real Estate. “As specialist investors in the private equity secondary market, with a solid performance track record and a strong network of client relationships, MCP will complement PGIM’s robust real assets capabilities, while providing access to a new and differentiated investment opportunity to the clients we serve.”
Dr Marco Wulff, co-CEO of Montana Capital Partners, says: “PGIM’s global scale and investment expertise make it an ideal home for Montana Capital Partners to continue to grow. It was important for us to find a partner with whom we can grow and strengthen our core business, while allowing us to offer our clients richer options by combining what we do with PGIM’s capabilities. Furthermore, we also retain our investment autonomy to continue our strategy and track record which provides outperformance for our investors.”
Dr Christian Diller, co-CEO of Montana Capital Partners, adds: “Our experience shows that innovative and customised solutions add substantial value for investors. We look forward to leveraging PGIM’s distribution and sourcing capabilities and global expertise to further strengthen our offering to clients. With PGIM’s global network, we will be able to better serve our LPs and source customised deals from GPs and LPs globally.”
Founded in 2011 by Dr Christian Diller and Dr Marco Wulff, MCP focuses on secondaries transactions in the small- and mid-cap markets. With roughly $3bn of assets under management, the firm has a diversified investor base across Europe, Asia, and the US MCP is one of the leading secondaries managers globally with a strong investment track record and LP investor base. MCP has raised five funds to date, all of which were oversubscribed and closed at their respective hard caps. The firm is comprised of 25 investment professionals and 10 senior advisors. With more than 100 transactions closed, MCP’s investors range from sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurance companies, and banks to family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
Lazard Frères & Co served as financial advisor to MCP on the transaction.
