ABN AMRO sells portfolio

Dutch investment bank ABN AMRO has sold a 20-strong portfolio of buyout investments to a consortium led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).

AAC Capital, the former private equity arm of the banking giant, will continue to manage the investments which are based in the Benelux region, the UK and Nordic area.

The transaction has seen the GSAM consortium, alongside ABN AMRO, commit €950m to AAC’s investment programme, which already included 11 purchases made since October 2006. It currently has €2.6bn of funds under management.

The consortium consists of AlpInvest Partners, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Adams Street Partners. A large US state pension fund, a family office and a large US-based insurance company have also backed the firm.

AAC is also now fully independent with its former parent selling its minority stake in the firm so that its partners now own 100%.

Gerben Kuijper, chairman and managing partner of AAC, said: “We are delighted that a consortium of world-class investors has joined our investor base. These transactions validate our strategy of concentrating on the fundamentals of our portfolio companies and are a tremendous endorsement of our business. We now have a substantial war chest with which to take advantage of the increasingly attractive pricing of potential investments. ”

The firm’s last investment came in April when portfolio company OyezStraker, the UK office supplies distributor, acquired PADS Printing & Commercial Stationery, a smaller rival, for an undisclosed sum.