L&G to acquire real estate private equity group Proprium
Legal & General has taken a 75% stake in Proprium Capital Partners, a $3.5 billion global real estate private equity group with 60% of its investments in Europe. L&G has committed to $300 million of capital to support Proprium’s future fund strategies and agreed to acquire 100% of the company at a later stage.
“Recognising that international scale in private markets is key to delivering against L&G’s growth strategy, this strategic investment in Proprium will expand our geographical footprint, deepen our capabilities, broaden our investment strategies, and diversify our product offering”, said Eric Adler, CEO Asset Management, L&G. “Through this acquisition, we are bringing clients a differentiated and diversified opportunity to access value creation in real estate sectors positioned for growth and scalability.”
It is the first acquisition under Adler, who joined L&G from Prudential last year to lead a combined asset management and private markets division, and it confirms the trend of large asset managers liked BlackRock and Franklin Templeton expanding into private markets through partnerships and acquisitions.
L&G said it has a target to grow its Private Markets platform to £85 billion AUM by 2028 and is focused on maximising opportunities within real estate, infrastructure, private credit, and venture capital, while strategically expanding into new global markets.
The acquisition of Proprium “brings together the complementary capabilities of the two businesses, and accelerates L&G’s private markets growth ambitions, broadening the real estate capabilities of the firm and unlocking new geographies”, L&G said. As part of its diversification strategy, last year the UK asset manager acquired an equity stake in US real estate investor Taurus.
L&G’s current real estate portfolio amounts to £22 billion AUM, ranging from large scale regeneration projects, industrial property, and urban logistics to a diverse residential platform of affordable housing, build to rent, and student accommodation.
Founded in 2013, Proprium is a spin-out of the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Special Situations team, which focuses on investing in real estate operating companies with scalable investment themes and experienced management teams. The group is active across residential, student accommodation, hospitality, and logistics sectors.
“This investment opens new doors to international markets as L&G builds out its global real estate business, representing a significant milestone in the evolution of our platform at a time of immense opportunity”, said Tim Morris and Philipp Westermann, Co-Managing Partners, Proprium.
As part of the acquisition, Proprium’s management team will continue to operate independently from an operational, day-to-day perspective, maintaining its current leadership structure, teams and investment process.
The transaction is expected to close by Q4 2025, subject to regulatory and anti-trust approvals.
