Deutsche Börse is making a significant move to elevate its position in the European investment fund landscape by initiating discussions to acquire Allfunds, a private equity-backed fund platform, for €5.3 billion. The German exchange group emphasized that this acquisition aligns with its strategy to reduce fragmentation within the industry and establish a more harmonized business model with a global scope.
Currently listed in Amsterdam, Allfunds has a market capitalization of approximately €4.9 billion and is supported by various investors, including US private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. This firm has previously considered selling Allfunds. Notably, Euronext, a competitor of Deutsche Börse, attempted to acquire Allfunds in 2023 for €5.5 billion but eventually rescinded its bid.
Should the acquisition go through, it would facilitate an exit for Hellman & Friedman, which originally purchased Allfunds in a €1.8 billion deal in 2017 before taking the company public in 2021. Hellman & Friedman, together with the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, collectively hold approximately 35 percent of Allfunds’ shares.
This potential deal builds on a series of recent liquidity events for Hellman & Friedman, which celebrated a major success last month with one of the largest European initial public offerings in years, taking the security services company Verisure public in Stockholm at a substantial €13.7 billion valuation.
Deutsche Börse’s offer of €8.80 per share presents an approximate 8 percent premium over Allfunds’ closing share price as of Thursday. Following the news, Allfunds shares surged by 22 percent, reflecting investor optimism surrounding the prospective acquisition.
As the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange and the derivatives exchange Eurex, Deutsche Börse sees this move as a pivotal step in expanding its fund services division. The company believes that a robust funds industry is critical for the EU’s standing as a key global financial center, echoing the ambitions of European policymakers to foster increased investment within the bloc.
In a notable provision of the proposed deal, Deutsche Börse has indicated that Allfunds shareholders could receive dividends of up to €0.20 per share for the financial year 2026, and €0.10 per share per quarter in 2027, further enhancing the attractiveness of the offer.
