By Elena Vardon

Shares in ICG PLC jumped after Amundi agreed to take a nearly 10% stake in the U.K alternative asset manager as part of a strategic partnership that will see the French group expand into private credit.

The stock rose as much as 11% to 2,100 pence at market open in London on Tuesday following the announcement of a 10-year agreement with the French group under which Amundi will be the exclusive wealth management distributor for ICG's evergreen products as well as some others.

The companies will focus on developing two evergreen European funds--a private equity secondaries fund and a private debt fund--in the first half of 2026, they said. Evergreen funds are investment vehicles through which investors can make long-term investments in private companies.

"We are excited to work with Amundi to develop more products and strategies that are well-suited to the important and growing wealth market for private investments," Chief Executive Benoit Durteste said.

The deal will see Europe's largest fund manager by client assets become the top shareholder of the London-listed company specialized in private markets, which was formerly known as Intermediate Capital Group, and get a seat on its board.

The purchase of the 9.9% stake by Amundi in ICG, part of which will be on the market, will be done in a manner that avoids dilution for existing shareholders.

"Whilst there are no financial targets outlined, we would view this as ICG having gained access to a potentially very valuable option, through the fund-raising potential in a largely new channel, whilst needing to commit limited incremental resource/investment," Deutsche Numis Research analyst David McCann and associate Jonas Dohlen said in a note to clients.

ICG separately published results for the first half of fiscal 2026 in which it reported that its assets under management stood at $124.3 billion at Sept. 30, 14% higher than a year prior. Fee-earning assets under management rose 12% to $83.8 billion, it said.

The group reported a jump in its pretax profit for the six month period to 351.6 million pounds from 198.4 million pounds on higher income from management and performance fees. ICG declared a dividend of 27.7 pence per share.

Jefferies analysts described the results as strong, ahead of expectations and flagged a standout performance in its fund management company, the segment which brings in fee revenue.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 18, 2025 03:36 ET (08:36 GMT)

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