Private Asset Management Company Acquires Bonhams
79Oct. 21, 2025
London-based private equity firm Pemberton Asset Management has purchased auction house Bonhams from private equity group Epiris. The terms and amount of the sale remain undisclosed, but the acquisition comes two years after Epiris aborted an effort to float the business for roughly $1 billion: The attempt was reportedly hobbled by the postpandemic consolidation of the auctionmarket.
“Today marks the start of a new chapter for Bonhams,” said Bonhams board chair Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard in a statement. “Pemberton Asset Management, one of our existing lenders and a leading investor backed by Legal & General, the UK’s largest insurance company, has taken ownership of the business from Epiris.”
The sale saw the immediate departure of some top-level staff at Bonhams, including those of global CEO Chabi Nouri and chief commercial officer Céline Assimon. Nouri had joined the company in August 2023, while Assimon was hired just five months ago. Seth Johnson will take over as CEO, while Liese Thomas and Jennifer Babington will occupy the CFO and COO roles, respectively. Alex Lejeune, who is currently CFO and COO of Bonhams, will stay with the company through the end of the year to assist with the transition. Hoejsgaard will remain as chair.
Founded in 1793, Bonhams most recently served the mid- to high-end market. Epiris bought the company in 2018 and through mergers and acquisitions grew it internationally to comprise fourteen sale rooms globally, including those in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Paris. Among the regional, specialist auction houses it purchased during its drive to expand were Sweden’s Bukowskis, New England’s Skinner, Denmark’s Rasmussen, and France’s Cornette de Saint Cyr. Bonhams is said to have achieved a total revenue of over $1 billion in 2022, the year before Epiris attempted its first sale.