STOCKHOLM, April 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A promising start to 2024 - and to EQT's fourth decade
"EQT started the year with the successful completion of two fundraises, EQT X and EQT Future, with total commitments of more than EUR 25 billion. Investment activity continued at a good pace and, with transactions such as the IPO of Galderma, we expect a gradual increase in exit activity. Whilst the macroeconomic environment, financing conditions, and capital markets activity have improved, we continue to monitor geopolitical risks and macro developments, including interest rates, and maintain our focus on performance."
Highlights for the period Jan-Mar 2024 (Jan-Mar 2023)
Strategic
-- EQT X closed at EUR 22bn in total commitments, of which EUR 21.7bn are
fee-generating assets under management, hitting the hard cap
-- EQT Future(1) closed at EUR 3bn in total fund commitments, with total
fee-generating commitments to the strategy, which includes
co-investments, totaling EUR 3.6bn
-- EQT hosted a Capital Markets Day, re-confirming its revenue growth and
adjusted EBITDA margin targets, providing further color on its
fee-related EBITDA margin ambition, and refining its dividend growth
target to be on a per share basis
-- Preparation continued for a transition infrastructure strategy, as well
as further products targeting the Private Wealth segment
-- Preparations also continued for BPEA IX
Fundraising
-- Fee-generating assets under management (FAUM) increased to EUR 132
bn (EUR 119 bn). Total AUM was EUR 242 bn (EUR 216 bn). Gross
inflows amounted to EUR 5 bn and were primarily driven by closed out
commitments from EQT X and EQT Infrastructure VI
-- Fundraisings are generally taking longer in the current fundraising
environment, and we expect the fundraising market to meaningfully
improve only once realizations pick up materially across private markets
-- EQT Infrastructure VI had fee-generating commitments of EUR 15.1 bn.
Fundraising is expected to continue at least throughout 2024, and the
fund is expected to reach its target fund size
-- EQT launched EQT Healthcare Growth, a dedicated healthcare buyout
strategy
-- Fundraising continued for EQT Exeter US Multifamily Value II, EQT Exeter
Europe Logistics Core-Plus II, EQT Active Core Infrastructure and EQT
Exeter Asia Pacific Logistics II
-- Fundraising also continued for BPEA EQT Mid Market Growth, with the
increased hard cap of USD 1.4bn
-- EQT Nexus' NAV was more than EUR 600m, and EQRT, EQT's semi-liquid
strategy focusing on direct investments in commercial real estate,
announced its first acquisition
Investment activity(2)
-- Total investments by the EQT funds in the quarter amounted to EUR 4 bn
(EUR 5 bn). Investments include the partnership with EdgeConneX to
develop hyperscale data centers in APAC (EQT Infrastructure VI); the
public to private tender of Believe, the largest independent
digital-native music label globally (EQT X); and Avetta, a leading
cloud-based supply chain risk management software platform (EQT X)
-- The transaction with Wind Tre (EQT Infrastructure VI) was terminated
Exit activity(2)
-- Total gross fund exits during the quarter amounted to EUR 1 bn (EUR 2
bn). Exits include the sale of CMS Info Systems, India's largest cash
management company; Shinhan Financial Group, the largest financial group
in Korea; and RBL Bank, one of India's leading private sector banks
(BPEA VII)
-- Other exits include Ottobock, the global leader in wearable human
bionics (EQT VII); and Cardior Pharmaceuticals, a leader in RNA-targeted
therapies for people with cardiovascular diseases (EQT Life Sciences)
-- Galderma, a leader in dermatology, priced its IPO on the SIX Swiss
Exchange gaining >20% on the day of the IPO, with a total offering of
USD 2.6bn. The offering comprised mainly of primary shares, to raise
capital for Galderma, with only a minimal sale by EQT VIII
Investment performance
-- All ten Key funds are performing On or Above plan, meaning they are on
track to deliver on or exceed the return targets communicated to our
clients
-- In the first quarter, Key fund valuations increased by almost 3%, as
underlying performance remained healthy and valuation references were
supportive. The portfolio remains robust, albeit with certain pockets of
underperformance
-- Strategies focused on earlier-stage investments, such as EQT Ventures
and EQT Growth, saw a meaningful value uplift in certain portfolio
companies
People and future-proofing
-- The number of full-time employees and on-site consultants (FTE+)
amounted to 1,859 ( 1,792 ), of which 1,802 ( 1,687 ) were FTEs.
Hiring was primarily to support new strategic initiatives such as
Private Wealth and prioritized regions such as Asia and the US
-- Masoud Homayoun, Partner and Head of EQT Value-Add Infrastructure,
joined EQT's Executive Committee
-- EQT Network appointed Sir Alok Sharma as a Senior Advisor on
geopolitical topics and economic trends, drawing on his extensive
experience in sustainability, with a background as the President of the
2021 UN's Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26), and the
Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy in the
UK
-- Since committing to the Science Based Targets initiative in 2021, EQT
has supported 39 portfolio companies in setting science-based targets,
out of which 7 completed the validation in Q1. Additionally, 24 are in
the process of setting targets
Other
-- EQT won six awards in the 2023 PEI Group Awards, including
Infrastructure Investor's "Global Sustainable Investor of the Year" for
the second consecutive year, and New Private Markets' "Multi-Strategy
Firm of the Year (ESG)"
-- Further to the ongoing review of certain current and former EQT
employees' carried interest taxation, the Swedish Tax Agency has
communicated its intention to review EQT's related social security
contribution obligations
Events after the reporting period
-- Investment levels in EQT Key funds as of 18 April 2024, were 35-40% in
EQT X, 30-35% in EQT Infrastructure VI and 40-45% in BPEA VIII
-- EQT Active Core Infrastructure entered exclusive talks to acquire Ocea
Group, a leading French water and heat submetering infrastructure
provider
-- EQT Infrastructure VI acquired a majority position in Universidad
Europea, a leading private higher education platform in Spain and
Portugal
-- EQT Mid Market Europe has signed an agreement to sell Rimes, a global
leader in enterprise data management solutions for the investment
industry
-- Fundraising was launched for EQT Healthcare Growth
1. EQT Future charges management fees on invested capital
2. Signed transactions, if not otherwise mentioned
Presentation of EQT AB's Q1 Announcement 2024
Financial analysts and media are invited to participate in a conference call, including a presentation at 08:30 CEST.
The presentation and a link to follow the webcast and conference call live can be found here [https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4144465-1&h=724477101&u=https%3A%2F%2Feqtgroup.com%2Fshareholders%2F&a=here] and a recording will be available afterwards.
To participate by phone, please register here [https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4144465-1&h=924255634&u=https%3A%2F%2Fregister.vevent.com%2Fregister%2FBI5d1a23c819ae451a85b32b6b997f1074&a=here]. You will then receive your personal dial-in details, to be able to ask questions during the Q&A.
Information on EQT AB's financial reporting
The EQT AB Group has a long-term business model founded on a promise to its fund investors to invest capital, drive value creation and create consistent attractive returns over a 5 to 10-year horizon. The Group's financial model is primarily affected by the size of its fee-generating assets under management, the performance of the EQT funds and its ability to recruit and retain top talent.
The Group operates in a market driven by long-term trends and thus believes quarterly financial statements are less relevant for investors. However, in order to provide the market with relevant and suitable information about the Group's development, EQT publishes quarterly announcements with key operating numbers that are relevant for the business performance (taking Nasdaq's guidance note for preparing interim management statements into consideration). In addition, a half-year report and a year-end report including financial statements and further information relevant for investors is published. Finally, EQT also publishes an annual report including sustainability reporting.
Contact:
Olof Svensson, Head of Shareholder Relations, +46 72 989 09 15
EQT Shareholder Relations, shareholderrelations@eqtpartners.com
Rickard Buch, Head of Corporate Communications, +46 72 989 09 11
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334
This is information that EQT AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 07:30 CEST on 18 April 2024.
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com [https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4144465-1&h=3283351923&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cision.com%2F&a=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.cision.com]
https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/eqt-ab--publ--q1-announcement-2024,c3963383 [https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=4144465-1&h=447491651&u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.cision.com%2Feqt%2Fr%2Feqt-ab--publ--q1-announcement-2024%2Cc3963383&a=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.cision.com%2Feqt%2Fr%2Feqt-ab--publ--q1-announcement-2024%2Cc3963383]
The following files are available for download:
https://mb.cision.com/Main/87/3963383/2740830.pdf EQT AB Q1 Announcement 2024 https://news.cision.com/eqt/i/eqt-lokal-121-1,c3290438 EQT Lokal 121 1
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/eqt-ab-publ-q1-announcement-2024-302120570.html [https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/eqt-ab-publ-q1-announcement-2024-302120570.html]
EQT