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AXA Private Equity pays E170m for secondary CDC Ixis' fund investments

AXA Private Equity has paid E170m to CDC Ixis Private Equity for a portfolio of buy-out and venture portfolios.

It was one of the largest deals to have surfaced this year, albeit a long way short of the E1.5bn sale of some of Deutsche Bank's portfolio of direct investments.

CDC Ixis, the private equity division of French bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations, revealed plans to scale back its exposure to the asset class last year in advance of the introduction of the Basle II capital adequacy requirements.

The portfolio is of ten investments in private equity funds, including France Private Equity, PAI LBO Fund, Geneva Ventures and SI Ventures. CDC is believesd to have wished to decrease its exposure to the asset class. 

AXA's secondaries unit remains active and has $700m dollars to invest.

Activity in the secondaries market was slow in 2002 despite a wealth of deal flow. Buyers complained that sellers were responsible for the stand-off because they had been slow to adjust their valuations.

The value of transactions is expected to pick up dramatically this year. Although the majority of activity never sees the light of day the early signs this year have been encouraging, in particular Deutsche Bank's portfolio sale.

Financial institutions are the biggest source of deal flow as they battle to reduce their exposure to private equity.

AXA Private Equity has an agreement to share deal flow with US secondaries specialist Paul Capital Partners.

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