Hellman & Friedman snags Allfunds Bank with €1.8bn bid

Hellman & Friedman and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund have beaten out a Chinese bidder to secure a €1.8bn deal for Spanish funds platform Allfunds Bank.

According to people familiar with the matter, the Hellman & Friedman bid was selected even though Chinese investor group Legend offered a competitive bid for the asset.

These people said that Spanish banking group Santander, which partly controls Allfunds, was nervous about handing the asset to a Chinese buyer.

Chinese buyers have been facing hurdles including increased scrutiny from domestic authorities when attempting to strike outbound deals. The effect has hurt the chances of Chinese buyers in competitive auctions.

However, another person close to the situation said Hellman & Friedman simply provided a more ‘deliverable’ bid for Allfunds.

Other bidders included Advent International and Permira. Private equity groups were particularly interested in buying the funds platform to roll it out to other geographies.