Jeremy Coller cedes company equity to firm’s partners

Coller Capital, a pioneer of the secondaries industry, will see changes to its ownership structure for the first time in its 32-year history, Secondaries Investor has learned.

Founder and chief investment officer Jeremy Coller, who until now has owned 100 percent of his eponymous firm, will cede 25 percent of equity in the firm to the firm’s partners, according to an investor source.

The move, understood to be part of long-term planning for ownership succession at the firm, means Coller Capital’s 29 partners will gain access to the management company’s income streams and have an equity stake in the value of the business.

Jeremy Coller is not stepping back from the business and there will not be any change to his role at Coller Capital, according to the source.

Secondaries Investor understands that investors were informed of the news on Thursday.

The development comes eight months after Secondaries Investor reported that the firm had approached at least two private equity firms with the intention of selling the business. Market sources have since speculated that a change in ownership structure could involve a minority stake sale.

A spokeswoman for Coller declined to comment for this story.

Coller, which placed 12th in Secondaries Investor‘s latest SI 50 ranking of the largest secondaries fundraisers over a five-year period, has been expanding its scope over the last 12 months. In February, it raised $1.4 billion for a debut dedicated credit secondaries fund, which it said was the largest such vehicle ever raised for the strategy, while last year Secondaries Investor reported that the firm was exploring a yuan-denominated strategy and had opened an office in Beijing.

Coller is also planning to return to market in the first half of this year and will seek between $10 billion and $12 billion for Coller International Partners IX, Secondaries Investor reported in February.