Kuwaiti SWF sells tail-end stakes to Coller

The world’s oldest sovereign wealth fund has sold a portfolio of buyout fund stakes to Coller Capital in line with an audit being carried out on its London operations, Secondaries Investor has learned.

Kuwait Investment Authority, which was founded in 1953, offloaded stakes in at least six funds to Coller, which used its Coller Partners 7 vehicle for the deal, UK regulatory filings between 4 and 9 October show. The funds were:

• PAI Europe V, a €2.7 billion, 2008-vintage vehicle.
• 3i Europartners Va, a €5 billion, 2006-vintage vehicle
• 3i Growth Capital, a €1.2 billion ($235.4 million; €199.3 million), 2010-vintage vehicle
• Baird Capital Partners Europe, a £178 million, 2005-vintage vehicle
• Apax Europe VII, an €11.2 billion, 2007-vintage vehicle
• Doughty Hanson & Co V, a €3 billion, 2007-vintage vehicle.

Pricing details were not disclosed.

KIA is selling a portfolio of stakes as it makes a change in strategic direction and “major changes” being made in relation to its London office, according to a source familiar with the deal.

KUNA, Kuwait’s state news agency, reported on 4 October that the gulf nation’s State Audit Bureau was to “intensify” the inspection of its London office “due to Brexit and the expected economic repercussions”.

The SWF, the sixth largest according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, had $524 billion in assets under management as of June.

The London office, known as the Kuwait Investment Office, covers private equity investments in Europe only, according to PEI data.

At the World Economic Forum in January, KIA’s then-head Bader Al Saad said that the sovereign wealth fund planned to manage more of its assets in-house, bringing the figure up to 8 percent from between 1 percent to 2 percent.

Coller Capital, 3i, PAI Partners and DH Private Equity Partners declined to comment. KIA, Baird Capital and Apax did not return requests for comment.