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Austrian insurer in €400m secondary sale
Austrian insurance company UNIQA is selling a portfolio of 54 European and American fund interests as it works to implement a new investment policy.
Chelsea Stevenson
Austria-based insurance company UNIQA intends to sell a €400 million portfolio of 54 private equity fund interests, according to a statement.
A source familiar with the situation said the portfolio amounts to virtually all of UNIQA's private equity assets, which are comprised of a broad mix of European and American direct fund interests, secondary funds and fund of funds.
The sale comes as UNIQA works to implement a new investment policy and is understood to be motivated by regulatory restrictions from Solvency II that limit financial institutions' ability to hold alternative investments.
"In the post financial crisis, all insurance companies are looking to reassess the extent to which they hold illiquid assets on their balance sheets," the source told Private Equity International.
Specific buyers for the fund interests weren't disclosed, though they include a number of international institutional and secondary investors. The sale will take place in phases, with the initial completion of the deal expected to close before the end of the year.
Campbell Lutyens is the company's financial advisor and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and PHHV are the legal advisors, according to the statement.
UNIQA is Vienna, Austria-based insurance company that focuses on 40 companies across 20 countries, with an emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe.