Partners Group Countersues Short Seller While Reassessing Telepass Stake

Swiss asset manager Partners Group sues short seller Grizzly Research over defamatory Wirecard claims; stock down 5.6% on dividend. Firm also weighs future of its 49% Telepass stake.

The Swiss asset manager is fighting on two fronts: defending its reputation in court and weighing the future of a major infrastructure holding. Partners Group has announced legal proceedings against US short seller Grizzly Research after the firm published a report in late April that compared the company to Wirecard — accusations the board chair Steffen Meister described as “defamatory and misleading.” The stock dropped 5.6% on Friday to €936.40, though that decline was largely attributable to a €46.00 CHF per-share dividend payout.

Grizzly Research’s report alleged significant discrepancies in the valuation of certain software investments, with one claim that a holding called Zenith Longitude Limited had no real business. Partners Group corrected that point: Zenith Longitude is the holding company for Apex Logistics, a majority-owned portfolio company. The short seller also overstated the revenue contribution of the Evergreen platform at “nearly half,” when in fact it represents 34% of total revenue. The software exposure, Grizzly said, was excessive, but Partners Group noted it stands at 9.9% — below the industry average. The criticised sub-programme accounts for just $279 million in net asset value, or 0.2% of the firm’s total assets under management of more than $185 billion.

The legal offensive may help stabilise investor sentiment, but the equity remains under pressure. Shares now trade at roughly 23% below the 52-week high of €1,213.50 and sit beneath the 200-day moving average. The relative strength index of 58.4 indicates neither overbought nor oversold territory. Year to date, the stock is down more than 12%.

Meanwhile, Partners Group is revisiting the question of what to do with its 49% stake in Telepass, the European electronic tolling operator. According to reports, discussions are at an early stage and no deal is assured — the firm could just as easily retain the holding. This is not a reversal of the status quo: in April 2026, sources indicated that Partners Group and its co-owner Mundys (holding 51%) had decided to keep their stakes after receiving four non-binding offers, driven by Telepass’s improving financial performance. A future initial public offering remains a theoretical option.

Partners Group originally acquired the Telepass stake in October 2020 at a valuation exceeding €2 billion. The business now serves roughly 7 million customers with more than 12 million active payment devices, processing around €7 billion in annual transactions across 14 countries. For the asset manager, the holding is significant in the context of realisations: in the first quarter of 2026, it returned $5.7 billion to clients, largely from private equity and infrastructure exits, while deploying $2.8 billion. Some transactions were postponed due to heightened market volatility.

The operational outlook for 2026 remains clearly defined. Partners Group expects gross client demand of $26 billion to $32 billion, with $8.3 billion already secured in the first quarter. Tail-down effects from older closed programmes are forecast to subtract $10 billion to $13 billion. The long-term target of $450 billion in assets under management by 2033 remains intact.

Investors will look for clarity on both the legal proceedings and the M&A environment for infrastructure exits like Telepass when Partners Group publishes its assets under management as of 30 June on 15 July. That update may signal whether the market backdrop has brightened enough for the firm to execute a deal on the tolling platform — or whether the short seller’s attack will prove a temporary distraction.