Ontario Teachers’ Pension, Nordic Capital Acquire Max Matthiessen

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Swedish private equity firm Nordic Capital Ltd. have jointly acquired a stake in Swedish financial advisory firm Max Matthiessen A.B., according to an announcement by the pension fund. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Max Matthiessen, founded in 1889, provides investment and asset management services and obtains pension and insurance products. The Stockholm-based firm serves more than 18,000 corporate clients in the Nordic region. According to Max Matthiessen, it also supports sustainable investments and provides environmental, social and governance-focused products. According to the OTPP, its financial services and private equity portfolio has assets worth C$13 billion ($9.3 billion).

Under the terms of the deal, the OTPP and Nordic Capital will equally control stakes in Max Matthiessen, the pension fund through its private capital unit and the firm through its Nordic Capital XI fund. The sizes of the stakes were not disclosed. For Nordic Capital, it is the second time it has invested in Max Matthiessen, following an investment in 2020.

Other recent OTPP acquisitions include stakes in U.K. wealth and investment manager 7IM, European trading and savings platform Trade Republic Bank, European insurance broker Diot-Siaci, and Canadian insurance broker Westland Insurance Group.

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The OTPP also reported that its joint venture with investment firm Boreal IM has acquired a 149,000-square-meter (1.6 million-square-foot) portfolio of three logistics assets in Paris, as well as a 46,000-square-meter warehouse in Germany.

The three French assets include an 84,000-square-meter facility east of Paris, which is occupied by an unnamed “major retailer” and will house the joint venture’s main logistics and e-commerce distribution center; a 42,000-square-meter facility north of Paris, and a 23,000-square-meter logistics center between Paris and the city of Lille.

“The acquisitions further our strategy to build a portfolio in the strongest markets across Europe,” Jenny Hammarlund, OTPP’s senior managing director of U.K. and European real estate, said in a release. “They also offer opportunities to create additional value through active management, strengthening our ability to deliver portfolio diversification and sustainable returns.”

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Tags: Acquisition, Boreal IM, logistics, Max Matthiessen, Nordi Capital, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Pension Funds, Private Equity

BlackRock announced Tuesday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire private credit manager HPS Investment Partners LLC for $12 billion. The transaction is expected to close by the middle of 2025.

HPS manages $148 billion in combined assets across both private credit and public credit strategies. The acquisition would more than double BlackRock’s $90 billion in private debt assets. The firm manages more than $11 trillion in total.

According to the most recent figures from HPS, the fund’s private credit assets under management total about $123 billion, with public credit AUM of about $22 billion.

“The combined private credit franchise will work side-by-side with BlackRock’s $3 trillion public fixed income business to provide both public and private income solutions for clients across their whole portfolios,” according to a BlackRock statement.

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The credit manager was said to have been in talks with multiple suitors, including CVC Capital Partners, and considered an initial public offering, according to Bloomberg. Emirati fund Lunate reportedly also considered taking a minority stake in the manager.

The acquisition would mark one of the largest acquisitions of a private credit manager, as banks and other financial institutions do not want to be left behind in the private credit boom.

In 2019, Brookfield Asset Management acquired a 62% stake in credit manager Oaktree, adding $120 billion in assets. Brookfield managed $350 billion at the time. In late 2023, TPG ($213 billion assets under management) completed the $2.7 billion acquisition of Angelo Gordon, which managed $74 billion in credit and real estate assets at the time.

Several banks have formed partnerships with private credit managers, such as a $25 billion alliance between Citi and Apollo Global Management, focused on direct lending, announced in September. In October, JPMorganChase announced partnerships with Cliffwater, FS Investments and Shankman Capital Management.

According to PitchBook, institutional private credit AUM exceeded $1.6 trillion, as of December 31, 2023, with $520.2 billion in dry powder, according to the firm’s mid-2024 private debt report. In total, across institutional, retail and insurance funds, AUM exceeded $2 trillion.

According to a statement, BlackRock expects the private debt market to grow to $4.5 trillion by 2030, more than doubling today’s figures.

In October, BlackRock finalized the acquisition of infrastructure asset manager Global Infrastructure Partners, which managed $170 billion in assets. In July, the firm announced plans to acquire data provider Preqin for $3.2 billion.

“For over 35 years, BlackRock has grown and evolved alongside the capital markets. With GIP, and now HPS, we are expanding our private markets capabilities across our comprehensive global platform,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in a statement. “Our Aladdin technology, including eFront, and soon Preqin, will make access to private markets simpler and more transparent. These capabilities, together with our global reach, deep relationships, and powerful technology, differentiate our ability to serve clients.”