EQT agrees to buy Exeter Property Group for US$1.9 billion

SWEDEN'S EQT, one of Europe's biggest private equity firms, has agreed to take over Exeter Property Group in a US$1.9 billion deal that gives it access to real estate assets across the US and Europe.

EQT will pay about US$800 million in new shares and the rest in cash for closely held Exeter, the Stockholm-based firm said on Tuesday.

Christian Sinding, EQT's chief executive, said that the transaction feeds into his firm's "strategy of building a globally-scaled real estate platform".

The agreement gives EQT control over a US-based property business with more than US$10 billion under management in an asset class that's become increasingly popular among institutional investors after years of ultra-low interest rates.

Exeter is majority-owned by Ward Fitzgerald as well as members of the US company's management.

EQT, which announced the takeover the same day it unveiled a 34 per cent increase in annual revenue, said that the cash portion of its payment for Exeter includes refinancing US$300 million in existing Exeter debt.

The deal "is expected to be accretive to EQT's earnings" this year, it said.

In its fourth-quarter report, EQT said its assets under management grew to 52.5 billion euros (S$84.5 billion) in 2020, 46 per cent more than a year earlier. BLOOMBERG