Swedish Private Equity Firm Scoops Up Exeter Property Group for $1.9B

Swedish private equity company EQT is acquiring Exeter Property Group for $1.9 billion in a stock-and-cash transaction. 

Majority owned by Ward Fitzgerald and other Exeter management team members, Exeter is focused on acquiring, developing and managing logistics/industrial, life science/office and residential properties across the US and Europe. Founded in 2006, it has 37 local deal offices and for 2020 is expected to generate approximately $135 million in revenues and approximately $80 million in EBITDA excluding carried interest. The acquisition is expected to equate to a mid-teens EBITDA multiple on a run-rate basis at completion.

The respective portfolios and investment strategies are complementary, EQT says in a press release, noting that : Exeter is a leading investment manager in the logistics/industrial space in the US and Europe, with a growing presence in US life science/suburban office and residential multi-family segments. EQT’s existing strength is in European real estate. Also, “Exeter’s investment philosophy aligns with EQT’s, applying a highly thematic value-creation approach and a local-with-locals focus,” it said. 

The deal will open more opportunities to Exeter’s clients, but otherwise it will be business as usual for the firm, Fitzgerald said in prepared remarks.  “We will continue to be fully focused on driving returns by utilizing our unique local execution of small and mid-cap acquisitions, adhering to our real estate solutions ethic to our over 1,200 corporate client/tenants and directly performing our own leasing, property management and development.”