PGIM acquires Montana Capital Partners

With $253bn invested in alternatives out of $1.5trn in overall AUM, PGIM is one of the largest groups yet to make a move into the secondaries market.

Secondaries firm Montana Capital Partners is to join up with one of the world’s largest asset managers.

The Baar, Switzerland-headquartered firm has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by PGIM, the asset management arm of insurance company Prudential Financial, according to a statement. The transaction will close in the third quarter, pending regulatory approval.

Financial details have not been disclosed.

“PGIM’s multi-manager model is based on the belief that highly specialised investment teams… allow us to remain focused on delivering investment outperformance on behalf of our clients,” said David Hunt, president and chief executive officer of PGIM, in the statement.

He added that Montana’s deep expertise in private equity secondaries and compatible culture made it a good fit.

Montana will remain independent while benefitting from PGIM’s “global distribution, sourcing and operational, compliance and regulatory support”, the statement said. Co-founders Christian Diller and Marco Wulff will continue to manage the business and serve as co-chief executive officers.

Montana will come under the oversight of Eric Adler, president and chief executive officer of PGIM Real Estate.

Founded in 2011, Montana focuses on small- and mid-sized secondaries deals in the LP- and GP-led markets. The team has grown to 25 investment professionals and 10 senior advisers.

It is currently investing its €1.3 billion mcp Opportunity Secondary Program V, which held final close in January.

Among the deals it has closed in recent months are an $875 million strip sale involving China Ping An Insurance Overseas and the spinout of a venture capital team from US insurance firm Transamerica, Secondaries Investor reported.

New Jersey-headquartered PGIM has $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of 31 March, making it one of the 10 largest asset managers in the world. It has $253 billion invested in alternatives across asset classes including real estate, infrastructure and private credit.

The past 12 months has seen a flurry of M&A activity in the secondaries market. Last week, StepStone Group acquired venture capital secondaries investor Greenspring Associates. Two days before, Tikehau Capital expanded its Asian presence through the acquisition of Singapore-headquartered secondaries firm Foundation Private Equity.