Over the line: Liontrust strikes near-£100m deal to snap up Swiss rival
London-listed asset manager Liontrust is set to snap up Swiss rival GAM for £96m this morning as a consolidation of the industry accelerates this year.
Liontrust said this morning that it had struck a conditional deal to acquire the entire issued share capital of Swiss-listed GAM in a move which will create a money manager with some £53bn in assets under administration.
The deal comes after weeks of talks between the pair and comes amid a flurry of deals in the sector, as asset managers look to find safety in scale after a torrid year on the markets.
Bosses at Liontrust said this morning that the tie-up between the firms would be “significantly earnings enhancing” and would accelerate the growth of the firm.
“Liontrust and GAM are both client centric businesses that thrive on providing solutions and first-class service. The enlarged company will provide the platform from which to deliver this to a broader client base,” said Liontrust chief John Ions.
“We have been impressed by the quality of the investment teams at GAM. There is commonality in that Liontrust and GAM are both committed to independent and distinct processes for each of their investment teams.”
Chief of GAM Peter Sanderson said the “distinctive approaches to investing” by the two firms meant the two firms are “closely aligned”.
The terms of the deal will be met by the issue of 9.4m of new Liontrust shares, with GAM shareholders set to own approximately 12.6 per cent of the combined group on completion of the deal.
The deal will boost Liontrust’s physical presence in Europe and provide offices in Asia and the US, alongside a “platform for expansion in those areas”.
Money managers are on the hunt for scale this year after suffering turbulent flows and investor jitters over the past year. London-listed asst manager Rathbones last month announced a bumper tie-up with Investec’s wealth management arm in a deal with £1bn.