JPMorgan Chase has agreed to spin off its private equity unit through a deal with two investment firms, realizing a long-held goal for the bank.
The two investment firms, Lexington Partners and AlpInvest Partners, said on Monday that they would buy JPMorgan’s stakes in half of the companies held by the unit, known as One Equity Partners. The deal will allow One Equity Partners to become an independent firm, managing the investments owned by Lexington and AlpInvest as well as the investments retained by JPMorgan.
JPMorgan announced a little more than a year ago that One Equity Partners would split off and raise its next fund as an independent firm. The decision was motivated by JPMorgan’s emphasis on its client business rather than using its own balance sheet to make investments, DealBook reported at the time. The bank did not want to compete directly with its clients, which include some of Wall Street’s leading private equity firms.
The One Equity Partners portfolio is valued at about $4.5 billion. The two firms are buying investments that are valued at up to half of that amount, a person briefed on the matter said on Monday.
Lexington Partners, which is leading the deal, specializes in buying private equity assets from other private equity firms. AlpInvest is a subsidiary of the Carlyle Group, a private equity giant based in Washington.
One Equity Partners was once the private equity arm of Bank One, a Chicago-based bank that JPMorgan acquired for $58 billion in 2004. It was started in 2001 by Richard M. Cashin, a former Olympic rower who is its chairman and chief executive.
“We look forward to delivering great long-term value to these two leading alternative investment management firms,” Mr. Cashin said in a statement. “We also thank JPMorgan Chase for their partnership and support of many years, enabling us to build the business we have today.”
JPMorgan was the adviser on the deal.