MutualFundWire.com: Three Fund Firm Mergers Near Their Finish Lines

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Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Three Fund Firm Mergers Near Their Finish Lines

A trio of mutual fund firm mergers are nearing their respective finish lines, and a fourth isn't too far behind.

Richard M. Weil
Janus Capital Group
CEO

Last week shareholders of Denver-based Janus [profile] and London-based Henderson [profile] both approved the pending cross-Atlantic "merger of equals" of the two publicly-traded asset managers. Janus CEO Dick Weil and Henderson CEO Andrew Formica confirm that the deal, first unveiled in October is expected to go through on May 30. Formica and Weil will serve as co-CEOs of the combined company, which will be called Janus Henderson Global Investors. As of March 31, 2017, Janus Capital Group reports $204.7 billion AUM and Henderson manages $128.9 billion in assets.

Meanwhile, word on the mutual fund industry street is that the close of Hartford-based, publicly-traded Virtus' [profile] planned acquisition of Atlanta-based, private-equity-backed RidgeWorth [profile] is just around the corner. Last week in its Q1 2017 earnings report Virtus revealed Q1 "acquisition and integration costs of $1.6 million" related to the RidgeWorth deal and confirmed that, as planned back when the deal was unveiled in December, the close is expected by the end of Q2. Virtus has an AUM of $48 billion as of March 31, 2017 while RidgeWorth manages approximately $40 billion in assets as of December 31, 2017.

Watch for Paris-based, publicly-traded Amundi's purchase of Boston- and London-based, UniCredit-backed Pioneer [profile] to also close by the end of this quarter. Last week in its Q1 2017 earnings report Amundi revealed 3.5 million euros (about $3.82 million), net of tax, of "expenses related to the forthcoming integration of Pioneer Investments," which Amundi CEO Yves Perrier still expects to close by the end of Q2 as planned when Amundi unveiled the deal back in December.The Paris-based asset manager has €1,100 billion ($1198.59 billion) AUM while Pioneer manages €228.4 billion ($240.8 billion) as of December 31, 2016.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen, Scotland-based, publicly-traded Aberdeen [profile] also released earnings last week, which Bloomberg describes as showing "slowing outflows and improving profitability as investors return to its emerging-market strategies." Aberdeen's impending merger with another publicly-traded Scottish giant, Standard Life, is expected to close next quarter. Standard Life manages £277.9 billion ($359 billion) as of December 31, 2016 and Aberdeen has $385.2 billion under management and advice as of March 31, 2017.

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