AXA set to seal private-equity spin-off – Reuters

Reuters – AXA (AXAF.PA) is set to confirm the closing of a deal to spin off its private-equity arm early this week, the head of AXA Private Equity said in an interview with the Financial Times.

The French insurer in March unveiled the structure of a spin-off that would value its private-equity unit at 510 million euros ($690.62 million), leaving AXA with a 26.9 percent stake in the business and a 200 million-euro capital gain from the sale of majority control to the unit’s management and staff.

AXA PE head Dominique Senequier told the FT that the final terms would see AXA holding 21 percent, slightly less than previously indicated, because of high demand from employees who will now own 46 percent. Senequier will own 10 percent with the rest going to wealthy family investors and French bank Credit Mutuel.

AXA PE will also soon announce the closing of a European leveraged-buyout fund, having raised 2.5 billion euros, the FT report said.

Spokespeople for AXA and AXA PE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

($1 = 0.7385 euros)

(Reporting by Lionel Laurent in Paris and Karen Rebelo in London; editing by Patrick Graham)