Goldman Sachs’s Petershill Plans London Listing

Listing would cash in on a boom for private equity, raising $750 million and valuing the vehicle at more than $5 billion.

LONDON—Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Petershill Partners said Monday it plans to list an investment vehicle on the London Stock Exchange, taking advantage of a sizzling market for private equity.

The London-based business, which invests in private equity and hedge fund firms that collectively manage $187 billion in assets, is tapping into global investors’ desire for juicy returns amid perennially low interest rates. The deal, which would see Petershill’s vehicle as a stand-alone company operated by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, could value it at more than $5 billion, said people familiar with the matter.

Founded in 2007, Petershill plans to raise $750 million by selling new shares and will also separately sell existing shares. Some of the firms Petershill has invested in include Francisco Partners, Caxton Associates LP and Pelham Capital Ltd. Following the offering of new and existing shares, at least a quarter of the new vehicle’s shares will be listed.

The listing comes during a buoyant time for private equity. The industry has attracted hundreds of billions of dollars from investors over the course of the pandemic. The share prices of large private-equity firms such as Blackstone GroupInc.and KKR & Co. have skyrocketed.

A public listing would give Petershill a new source of capital to help fund additional investments. Petershill has targeted firms that manage technology investments since 2017 and has recently launched a focus on healthcare and environmental, social and governance matters.

Petershill’s plan comes amid a flurry of private-equity initial public offerings. Antin Infrastructure Partners SA, which oversees €19.9 billion of assets, equivalent to about $24 billion, said Friday it plans to raise €350 million from an IPO and list on the Euronext Paris stock exchange.

Bridgepoint GroupPLC, an international focused buyout firm, went public in July. Its stock price has surged about 45% since its trading debut.

The Petershill listing is part of Goldman’s efforts to capitalize on its asset-management businesses. The firm last month agreed to acquire the money-management operation of Dutch insurer NN Group NVfor about $1.87 billionto gain access to a bigger pool of retail and institutional investors in Europe.

Goldman’s Chief Executive David Solomon has reoriented the bank away from volatile and capital-intensive areas such as trading derivatives and toward steadier businesses such as wealth and asset management since taking over the top job in 2018.