Axight, a private equity unit of the Abu Dhabi-based investment company Lunate, has agreed to buy a minority stake in Australian asset management firm La Trobe Financial as it looks to expands its portfolio.
Axight, through its investment vehicles, is buying a minority stake in the Australian alternative asset manager from Brookfield for an undisclosed amount. The deal, set to close in the third quarter of this year, values La Trobe at an estimated $2.1 billion, the companies said on Friday.
Brookfield, a global alternative asset manager with its headquarters in New York and more than $1 trillion of assets under management, will remain the majority shareholder of La Trobe, which it has owned since May 2022.
Axight said it will join forces with Brookfield to support the “next phase of growth” at the Australian firm, leveraging its “scale, origination capabilities and diversified funding model”, said co-managing partners Mujtaba Hussain and Jerry He.
In four years, La Trobe has increased its AUMs from $9.9 billion to $16.3 billion, launching several new products, including a listed investment trust on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Based in Abu Dhabi's onshore financial hub ADGM, Axight deploys capital in high-conviction deals in Asia Pacific, especially late-stage transactions, buyouts and structured minority investments. The company's website says it currently has more than $5 billion in AUMs.
Its parent company Lunate has also been expanding its portfolio of investments through subsidiaries.
Lunate, which in January appointed Mohamed Alsuweidi, Minister of Investment, as its executive chairman and managing partner, has more than $115 billion of AUMs and aims to more than double its asset base over the next five years.
Lunate invests across private equity, venture capital, private credit, real assets, public equities and public credit market deals and has formed several funds and investment partnerships in recent months to drive a push for expansion.
