TA Associates Announces Sale of Leading Real Estate Investment Management Firm Exeter Property Group
BOSTON – TA Associates, a leading global growth private equity firm, today announced the sale of its funds’ ownership interest in Exeter Property Group (“Exeter”) to EQT AB (“EQT”). The $1.87 billion sale was completed on April 1, 2021 after all necessary closing conditions were achieved. Upon closing, Exeter and EQT’s real estate businesses have combined as EQT Exeter.
Exeter is a leading real estate investment management firm focused on acquiring, developing, leasing and managing industrial, office and related business park properties across the U.S. and Europe through an array of value-add and core return private equity investment vehicles. The company is headquartered in suburban Philadelphia and has offices distributed across the Americas, Europe and Asia. TA completed a strategic growth investment in Exeter in February 2019.
“Exeter Property Group is a category leader investing in industrial real estate globally,” said Roger Kafker, a Senior Advisor at TA Associates. “It has been a pleasure to be partnered with Ward Fitzgerald, Tim Weber and the entire Exeter team to help the firm accomplish its goals.”
“We chose to partner with TA because of the firm’s management-friendly approach and deep experience investing in the asset management sector,” said Ward Fitzgerald, Co-Founder and CEO, Exeter Property Group, and Partner and Head, EQT Exeter. “In addition to financial backing, TA provided significant strategic and tactical support that proved helpful in implementing our growth initiatives. We believe the extensive discussions with TA regarding long-term strategy has positioned us well for further growth and leadership within the real estate investment management sector.”
“We believe Exeter has a unique investment and execution model making local deals with local teams across 36 U.S., European, Asian and South American markets, and these capabilities have helped Exeter produce enviable returns since its founding in 2007,” said Roy Burns, a Managing Director at TA Associates. “We are pleased to have partnered with Ward in support of Exeter’s strategic objectives, and we are excited to see what Exeter can accomplish as part of its next phase of growth.”
TA has been a leading private equity investor in the asset management industry for more than 30 years, completing over 24 investments in traditional and alternative managers, as minority or majority owners.
Goodwin Procter provided legal counsel to TA Associates.
About TA Associates
TA is a leading global growth private equity firm. Focused on targeted sectors within five industries – technology, healthcare, financial services, consumer and business services – the firm invests in profitable, growing companies with opportunities for sustained growth, and has invested in more than 500 companies around the world. Investing as either a majority or minority investor, TA employs a long-term approach, utilizing its strategic resources to help management teams build lasting value in high quality growth companies. TA has raised $33.5 billion in capital since its founding in 1968 and is committing to new investments at the pace of over $3 billion per year. The firm’s more than 100 investment professionals are based in Boston, Menlo Park, London, Mumbai and Hong Kong. More information about TA can be found at www.ta.com.