London-based alternative investment group Icona Capital--which has offices in Luxembourg--and Swiss real estate investment group Stoneweg announced on 25 March 2025 that they are joining forces under a new joint entity: SWI Group. Together, the two players now claim more than €10bn in assets under management.

This union goes far beyond a simple change of name: the two companies have acquired the European property fund management platform of the Cromwell Property group, including its associated investments. The deal is worth €280m and gives SWI Group control of €3.9bn in assets, including a 27.8% stake in Cromwell European REIT. The acquisition gives the new entity “immediate growth, scale and product diversification capabilities,” says the press release.

The new company’s structure will be organised around two divisions:

—Stoneweg Real Assets, focused on traditional real estate assets (housing, hotels, logistics, offices, data centres, infrastructure, experiential projects)

—Icona Alternatives, which will focus primarily on private equity, venture capital, special situations, liquid strategy, private credit, sports and entertainment.

“We have created a very attractive institutional investment platform based on our global scale and local talent,” says former Icona Capital chair and CEO, now chairman and co-CEO of SWI Group, Max-Hervé George. “This combination will offer more attractive opportunities to our clients. The SWI Group will be stronger, more diversified and enhance our ability to deliver continued growth and with the support of third party institutional capital, allow us to pursue more investment opportunities.”

As a result of the merger, SWI Group employs more than 350 people in 26 offices across 17 countries in Europe, North America and Asia.

This article in French.