Fund manager Jupiter gets ready to fend off bids worth £1.3bn
Jupiter fund manager is enlisting advisory help in preparation of takeover bids, as dealmaking activity across the industry reaches fever pitch, according to Sky News, which first reported the news.
The asset manager has hired advisory firm Robey Warshaw to come up with a plan to fend off prospective bidders eyeing up the FTSE-250 company, as shares have declined by over 10 per cent over the last year.
Although the second-largest manager of retail funds in Britain has not yet received any takeover offers sources told Sky News that the company, worth £61bn and led by Andrew Formica, was “on the radar” of several bidders.
Shares in the company, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2010, closed at 233.8p on Friday, giving a market capitalisation of around £1.3bn.
Any bids would need to be at “a very substantial premium” to Jupiter’s share price to stand a chance, one shareholder reportedly said.
The British fund manager reported a rise in interim profit, record inflows and assets under management, partly offsetting a jump in outflows from the year earlier.
Assets under management exceeded the £60bn mark for the first time, for the six months to June 30 but net outflows surged to £2.3bn, up from £2bn a year earlier, the company reported earlier this year.