Swedish investment company Catella is acquiring a majority stake in APAM, a UK real estate asset manager
Swedish investment company Catella is acquiring a majority stake in APAM, a UK real estate asset manager. The Swedish company is taking 75% stake in the UK company and paying £18m (€20.3m) for APAM. The revenue of APAM was £7m last year. Catella Property Fund Management has signed a share purchase agreement with the UK firm which will take Catella’s own assets under management to close to SEK200bn (€19.7bn). APAM manages £1.4bn in real estate assets with 41 employees and will give Catella greater presence in the UK.
CEO of Catella, Knut Pedersen said that as a leading company within the strategically important UK market, APAM constitutes a key piece in Catella’s ambition to build the pan-European platform Catella has built the last years within its Property Investment Management business area, which has been its focus for the last four years.
Simon Cooke and William Powell, founders and executive directors of APAM, will remain shareholders in APAM. Both Simon and William will have 12.5% of the share capital and voting power.
Although the current management team of APAM will continue to run the company at present, cooperation between the two organisations will start immediately.
The company said that the management from both companies see significant opportunities to strengthen their offering to international investors by leveraging the combined pan-European reach the two companies can provide.
The company’s founding shareholder and executive director, Cooke said that this transaction brings together two great names in property investment management and Catella’s strategic investment provides it with an even stronger platform for growth.
He added that he and Powell will continue to lead and drive the APAM business – it will be very much business as usual.
