A Japanese multinational is making another big push in the U.S. mutual fund business by preparing to buy a $180-billion-AUM asset management business.

Today, Kentaro Okuda, president and group CEO of Nomura, and Ben Way, head of Macquarie Group's Macquarie Asset Management [profile] arm, confirm that Tokyo-based Nomura has agreed to buy Sydney-based Macquarie's U.S. and European public asset management business, which is based in Philadelphia. In the U.S., the $180-billion-AUM acquisition target serves ETFs, SMAs, and open-end mutual funds (fka the Delaware Funds).

Nomura has agreed to pay Macquarie Group $1.8 billion in cash for Macquarie Investment Management Holdings (Austria) GmbH, Macquarie Investment Management Holdings (Luxembourg) S.à.r.l., and Macquarie Management Holdings, Inc. (which owns MAM's U.S. public asset management business). That translates into a valuation of one percent of AUM and 2.6 times the target business' $700 million in net management fees.

The deal is expected to close by the end of 2025. Given that Nomura and Macquarie are both banks, it's little surprise that they haven't mentioned any outside investment banks being involved in the deal on either side.

Okuda confirms that all of the more than 700 employees of MAM's U.S. and European public asset management business are expected to join Nomura's investment management division after the deal, with Macquarie Group's Americas chief, Shawn Lytle, also making the move to Nomura along with senior leaders like Greg Gizzi (chief investment officer of fixed income), Milissa Hutchinson (head of U.S. wealth), and John Pickard (CIO of equities and multi-asset).

The deal will also involve a long-term partnership between MAM and Nomura. Nomura will be a U.S. wealth distribution partner to MAM and its alternative asset management products, and Nomura will even provide seed capital to such products geared towards U.S. investors.

Okuda puts the Macquarie deal in the context of a broader Nomura effort "to invest in stable, high margin businesses."

"It will be transformational for our Investment Management Division's presence outside of Japan, adding significant scale in the U.S., strengthening our platform, and providing opportunities to build our public and private capabilities," Okuda states.

"This transaction will accelerate the expansion of our global Investment Management business and will be a significant step in building a truly global franchise with a comprehensive set of solutions to serve investors worldwide," states Chris Willcox, chairman of Nomura's investment management division.

"This transaction will allow MAM to build on our leading global position in private markets, and our leading position in Australian public markets, as we focus on providing solutions for our Institutional, Insurance and Wealth clients," Way states.

Nomura is no stranger to the U.S. asset management business. Nomura Asset Management entered the U.S. mutual fund business in 2008 but exited half a decade later. Then in 2016, Nomura bought a sizable minority stake in another U.S. fund firm, American Century. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Nomura was one of the backers of a British ETF startup called Source, which was bought up by another fund firm in 2017.

As for Macquarie, the Nomura deal comes 15 years after the Australian multinational entered the U.S. mutual fund business by buying Delaware Investments from Lincoln Financial. 

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