Wendel: of the €8.1 per share of net asset value gained in the third quarter, €5.8 came from unlisted multiples

From 30 June to 30 September 2026, Wendel's net asset value rose from €158.9 to €167.0 per share. Of that €8.1 increase, €5.8 came from the revaluation of unlisted companies, which Wendel attributes to the rebound in the multiples of comparable listed companies. Third-party asset management, the engine the holding company has been building since the acquisition of IK Partners, completed in May 2024, contributed €0.3.

The release of 22 October gives the full net asset value per share bridge, line by line. It makes it possible to separate what the stock market set, what Wendel estimated and what Wendel collected. It also makes it possible to measure, for the first time since our analysis of 21 September, what asset management adds to net asset value in a quarter.

The bridge, line by line

Wendel breaks the €8.1 increase into five contributions. Unlisted investments add €5.8, listed investments €2.7, asset management €0.3 and share buybacks €0.5. Costs, financing and other items take away €1.2. The figures reconcile: 158.9 + 5.8 + 2.7 + 0.3 + 0.5 − 1.2 = €167.0 (Opulion calculation).

The €2.7 from listed investments can be checked in appendix 1. The Bureau Veritas holding, 66.6 million shares, rises from €1,719m to €1,823m, €104m more, with the 20-day average share price up from €25.8 to €27.4. IHS is stable, from €470m to €471m. Divided by the 38,648,801 shares used for diluted net asset value, Bureau Veritas's €104m comes to about €2.7 per share (Opulion calculation), which matches the published contribution.

The €5.8 from unlisted investments represents about €224m (Opulion calculation: €5.8 × 38,648,801 shares). That is equivalent to 10.2% of the value of the unlisted investments line at 30 September, €2,189m, a value that already includes this revaluation. Wendel lists the line as Tarkett, Crisis Prevention Institute, ACAMS, Scalian, Globeducate, Muno and Wendel Growth. The same line stood at €3,069m at 30 June, Stahl included. Stahl left it on 1 October for proceeds of €1,145m, shown separately at 30 September.

An estimate ahead of any transaction

The value of an unlisted investment is a matter of estimation. Wendel values it by applying the multiples of comparable listed companies to its earnings, except Globeducate, valued on transaction multiples. When the comparables rise on the stock market, the estimated value of the unlisted companies rises too, while the shares stay in the portfolio. Wendel attributes the quarter's increase to the rebound in the multiples of listed comparables in the third quarter of 2026. The release discloses neither the multiples used nor their change, company by company.

Investor went through the same quarter. Our brief of 16 October showed that 78% of the rise in its adjusted net asset value came from Patricia Industries, its unlisted companies, also estimated on the multiples of their peers. At Wendel, the share is 72%. Two holding companies, two similar methods, one common factor: the rise in stock market multiples, which the fourth quarter may extend or erase.

There is one outside yardstick. Wendel writes that the Stahl and IHS disposals have been or will be completed 20% above their valuation in the net asset value published before each disposal was announced. IHS is a listed holding, carried in net asset value at its 20-day average share price. Only Stahl therefore tests the valuation method for unlisted companies. Opulion reading: on Stahl, the price obtained exceeded Wendel's estimate, which points to a cautious method. One disposal does not, however, validate the other seven lines of the unlisted portfolio.

Asset management: a quarter of gross assets, €0.3 in the quarter

At 30 September, asset management activities are worth €2,233m, 26.3% of gross asset value of €8,488m (Opulion calculation, appendix 1, cash and Stahl proceeds included). Our analysis of 21 September measured 37% on a different base, the gross value of assets excluding cash, pro forma for the signed Stahl and IHS disposals. Both figures are right, each with its own denominator.

The €2,233m breaks down into two lines that moved in opposite directions. The stakes in the asset managers, IK Partners, Monroe Capital and Committed Advisors, valued as a platform on net income or distributable earnings multiples for 2025, 2026 and 2027, fall from €1,881m to €1,850m, €31m less. The value in net asset value of sponsor money, the amounts Wendel has invested in these managers' funds, rises from €273m to €383m. Wendel has committed €733m in total to these funds. Wendel describes the contribution of asset management in the quarter as slightly positive, €0.3 per share, or about €12m (Opulion calculation), and links it in particular to the increase in the valuation of sponsor money. The share of the €110m rise made up of amounts called by the funds and paid out of cash remains unknown. Order of magnitude, Opulion hypothesis: if the €12m contribution is limited to the change in value of the two lines, the revaluation of sponsor money is close to €43m (12 + 31) and the amounts called, net of distributions, about €67m (110 − 43).

Asset management revenues tell a different story depending on the measure. Over nine months, management fees and other revenues reach €344.0m, up 41.3% as reported, but 10% at constant scope and exchange rates. The difference comes mainly from the change in scope: Monroe Capital, consolidated since 1 April 2025, counts for all nine months of 2026, and Committed Advisors has been consolidated since 1 April 2026. Fee-paying assets under management reach €37.7bn at 30 September, up 9% over twelve months, against €37.8bn at 30 June according to the half-year results release of 30 July: they are stable over the quarter. Wendel expects about €200m of fee-related earnings (FRE) in 2026, pro forma.

The next tests

For Wendel shareholders, three dates are set. On 2 December, Wendel holds its 2026 investor day, whose programme has yet to be published. Wendel expects the IHS disposal to complete by year-end, for about $535m of net proceeds. On 26 February 2027, net asset value at 31 December will show whether unlisted multiples held up in the fourth quarter. The last test will take longer: for asset management, a quarter of gross assets, to add more than €0.3 a quarter to net asset value.

How we counted

All data come from Wendel's release of 22 October 2026 on third-quarter activity, appendix 1 (net asset value at 30 June and 30 September) and the paragraph on value creation in the quarter, except fee-paying assets under management at 30 June, taken from the half-year results release of 30 July 2026. The 37% and 78% figures are taken from our publications of 21 September and 16 October 2026. Net asset value per share is fully diluted, on 38,648,801 shares at 30 September and 38,879,366 at 30 June. Conversions of a per-share contribution into millions of euros multiply by 38,648,801 shares and give an order of magnitude. Share of the unlisted contribution: 5.8 ÷ 8.1 = 71.6%, rounded to 72%. Weight of asset management: 2,233 ÷ 8,488 = 26.3%. Unlisted revaluation relative to its end-of-quarter line, revaluation included: 224 ÷ 2,189 = 10.2%.