Fund firm Jupiter proposes takeover of rival Merian Global Investors to create a £67billion British investment giant
- Jupiter has announced plans to acquire Merian Global Investors for £370million
- Tie-up would create a £67bn fund house – making it one of the biggest in the UK
- Would also mean filling several gaps in Jupiter’s current product offering
- Completion remains subject to regulatory and shareholder approval
British asset manager Jupiter Fund Management is closing in on a takeover of its smaller rival Merian Global Investors.
The group confirmed the proposed acquisition this morning, which it said ‘represents an opportunity to accelerate its strategy’.
With Jupiter running £45.2billion in assets under management and Merian overseeing £22.4billion, the tie-up would create a £67billion fund giant.
Deal: Jupiter has £45.2bn of assets under management, while Merian oversees £22.4bn
Jupiter intends to buy Merian for £370million via shares in Jupiter being given to Merian shareholders.
Merian shareholders will own a combined 17 per cent of Jupiter if the takeover goes ahead.
The firm’s fund managers could potentially earn future payments totalling £20million if they grow the revenue generated by their funds.
The announcement comes just under two years after Merian Global Investors bought itself out of Old Mutual under the leadership of Richard Buxton for £550million.
Meanwhile, this is the first significant acquisition for Jupiter which has been led by Andrew Formica, who became chief executive of the group in March 2019.
He was previously chief executive of Henderson Global Investors, where he performed a number of acquisitions and was involved in the merger with Janus Capital to create Janus Henderson Investors before his departure.
Commenting on today’s news, he said: ‘This is an exciting acquisition that enhances our position as a leading UK asset manager, provides increased scale and diversification into attractive product areas, and creates stronger future growth prospects for the business.
‘It is also consistent with our strategic priorities, adding strong investment talent with a similar culture and investment philosophy.
‘The addition of Merian is compelling for all stakeholders. With this acquisition, our business will benefit from an increased capacity to attract, develop and retain high quality talent, backed by further investment in our platform and technology. In turn, we will be able to offer a wider choice of strongly’
Mark Gregory, chief executive of Merian, added: ‘Jupiter is a great strategic and cultural fit with our business. It has a market leading brand with a clear focus on high conviction, active asset management which is entirely consistent with our own.
‘I believe the enlarged business will be more strongly positioned to offer greater choice and investment performance to clients and continue to meet clients’ ever-evolving needs.’
Although Jupiter said both companies are confident the tie-up would benefit investors, it stressed there was ‘no certainty’ an agreement would be reached.