PE Chief at AXA Urging a Management-Led Buyout
As AXA gears up for a possible sale of its private equity unit, executives at the company could find themselves borrowing from The Carlyle Group’s playbook. AXA Private Equity, and particularly its chief executive, Dominique Senequier, are known to be seeking a management-led buyout financed in large part by one of its suitors. Such a structure is exactly what Carlyle agreed to when it acquired a 50 percent voting stake (and 60 percent of the equity) in AlpInvest Partners, one of Europe’s largest fund-of-fund managers, earlier this year. For Carlyle, the merger helped to diversify its slate of businesses, and more importantly, helped to increase its tally of assets under management prior to its expected IPO next year. For AXA Private Equity’s investors, a management-led buyout would offer incentives for keeping employees on board, something especially crucial in an era of “key-man” provisions. Senequier’s preference for a management-led buyout was first reported in the Financial Times.
