Carlyle and Bacon affiliates to exit Traxys Group

• Traxys’ management will likely increase its ownership stake
• The acquisition is expected to be completed in May subject to regulatory nods
• Carlyle and the Bacon affiliates agreed to acquire a majority stake in Traxys in March 2014

The Carlyle Group will sell its holdings in Traxys Group, a metals and natural resources trader and merchant. Traxys’ management, along with Optiver, CoLift and an investor group led by Regent Mercantile and LOM Financial will acquire Carlyle’s holdings, as well as those of affiliates of Louis M Bacon, the founder of Moore Capital Management.

The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Luxembourg-headquartered Traxys has an annual turnover of over $10 billion. The firm employs 450 people in more than 20 offices globally.

Carlyle and the Bacon affiliates agreed to acquire a majority stake in Traxys in March 2014. At that time, Traxys’ annual turnover was over $6 billion.

Traxys’ management will likely increase its ownership stake. This acquisition is expected to be completed in May, subject to regulatory approvals.

Alan Docter, chairman of Traxys, said in a statement that the firm “appreciates the contributions of Carlyle and Bacon who have supported our growth from $5.5 to $10 billion in revenues since the onset of our partnership in 2014”.

Optiver, based in Amsterdam, is a liquidity provider and employs around 2,000 people.

CoLift invests in companies contributing to sustainability. The firm is headquartered in New York.

Regent Mercantile is a privately-owned Bermuda-based firm that invests in different asset classes, whereas LOM Financial is a publicly-held financial services company headquartered in Bermuda.

The financial advisors to Traxys in this deal were ING and Ducera Partners. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal advisor to Carlyle.

Carlyle, a global investment firm headquartered in Washington DC, managed $369 billion of assets as of 30 September.