JSM Financial: BoA Merrill Lynch sells private equity portfolio to Axa.

April 22, 2010 - PRLog -- JSM financial has learned of reports of one of the largest deals since the global financial crisis for the secondary private equity market.

French private equity firm Axa has announced that it has acquired a $1.9 billion portfolio of limited partnership interests in private equity funds under the terms of the new deal. Axa has completed private equity transactions of over $2.6 billion in April alone.

The deal comes only weeks after U.S. president Barack Obama disclosed plans to stop banks owning or investing in private equity or hedge funds, under what is now known as the Volcker Rule, which JSM Financial understands was inspired by the former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker.

A number of top banks invested heavily in private equity funds during the debt bubble to support their leverage loan business, hoping that by backing this sort of fund, the private equity managers would look favorably on their business when it came time for financing for deals and the appointment of advisors.

JSM Financial has been informed that a number of these banks are now looking to shed these stakes as private equity deals have been hard hit by the financial crisis and new regulatory requirements are making this type of investment far pricier to hold.

Neither party is expected to disclose the price of the new deal and while the secondary private equity market has seen some recovery in recent months, assets are still trading significantly below value.

# # #

JSM Financial is an independent broker focused on the realization of superior returns from seed stage and early-stage equity investment and active partnerships with exceptional entrepreneurs building market-leading technology companies.