The transaction highlights the significance today of the market for "secondaries" in private market investments. Coller Capital has told this publication that market transaction volume in secondaries could reach $500 billion by the end of the decade.

EQT, a Sweden-based group, has agreed to buy secondaries investment specialist Coller Capital, a sign of how the secondaries space is an increasingly popular area in the private markets arena.

Under terms of the transaction, announced yesterday, EQT will buy all of the Coller Capital management company, the Coller Capital general partner entities which control the Coller Capital funds. It also gets 10 per cent of carried interest in the most recent private equity secondaries flagship fund (CIP IX), which had a final close on 31 December 2025 at $10.2 billion in fee-generating commitments. The deal will allow EQT to invest in 35 per cent of the carried interest in all future closed-ended funds of Coller Capital, in line with existing EQT policies, EQT said in a statement. 

The transaction is expected to be mid-single-digit accretive to EQT’s fee-related earnings.

The Coller Capital minority shareholder, State Street, will become a shareholder in EQT.

EQT said it is also paying a “base consideration” of $3.2 billion on a cash and debt-free basis, to be funded by EQT ordinary shares issued at closing at a set price of SEK355 ($39.29) per share, equating to about 81 million shares, or 7 per cent of shares outstanding. The transaction also involves a contingent consideration of up to $500 million, based on Coller Capital’s business performance in the 12 months up to and including March 2029.

Coller Capital, founded in 1990, has become one of the more prominent players in the secondaries space – the business of buying pre-exiting private market investments, enabling investors in closed-ended funds to liquidate their stakes ahead of the usual end-date. This liquidity option has grown more popular as the private markets sector has matured. (See an interview with Coller Capital and coverage of its build-out here.) There is a great deal of headroom for growth. In the primary market, for example, there is an estimated $11 trillion of unrealised net asset value inside private equity firms globally; Coller has said that this market could reach $500 billion in transaction volume by 2030.

“Private markets are shaped by broader demand for strategic liquidity tools, longer-term ownership models and continued product innovation,” EQT said. “This trend reinforces the strategic importance of secondaries – a market that grew 41 per cent in 2025 with deal volumes reaching $226 billion – and is expected to more than double by 2030.”

Headquartered in the UK, Coller Capital has a global team of 330 professionals, including 77 investment professionals, based in 11 offices around the world.

The deal, subject to the usual closing conditions, is expected to be wrapped up by the third quarter of 2026. EQT said that if the transaction hasn’t been closed by the time of its annual shareholder meeting on 12 May, the transaction will be conditional upon EQT’s shareholders authorising the board of EQT to issue the base consideration shares.

“Entering the secondaries space with Coller represents a natural and important step in EQT’s strategic development,” Per Franzén, CEO and managing partner of EQT, said. “Secondaries have become an increasingly important tool for clients in managing liquidity and portfolio construction, and in supporting long-term ownership of high-quality assets. Coller is a global leader in this field, with deep expertise. The transaction unlocks growth opportunities for both firms.” 

Jeremy Coller, CIO and managing partner of Coller Capital said: “The opportunities ahead are compelling, from accelerating innovation in secondaries to broadening the secondary solutions we can deliver to investors worldwide. As Coller EQT, we will maintain our strong alignment with our investors and the independence of our world class origination and investment process. Together, we are exceptionally well positioned to deliver best-in-class private market solutions for our investors.”

Jeremy Coller will receive about 72 per cent of the base consideration and approximately 29 per cent of the contingent consideration, institutional minority sellers will get 19 per cent of the base consideration and around 8 per cent of the contingent. Other “key members" of Coller Capital’s management will obtain about 9 per cent of the base consideration and around 64 per cent of the contingent consideration.

(Editor’s note: This deal is significant for EQT's private wealth arm because it means that it can offer Coller’s evergreen products and make use of a US distribution partnership with State Street. Highlights are that Coller’s four evergreen products totalling $4.1 billion will be added to EQT’s roster; this widens the combined EQT platform to 10 evergreen strategies across private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and private credit. To read more about the "evergreen" fund trend, see this article because it considers the pluses and the minuses.

This is increasingly about achieving scale, which certainly appears to be the case with EQT being able to use Coller Capital’s partnership with State Street to ramp up global distribution. At a time when the Trump administration has recently opened the route for 401(k) retirement accounts to hold private market investments, the benefits are clear.)