River & Mercantile bidding war deadline extended
Asset manager River & Mercantile (R&M) has extended the deadline for takeover bids from its suitors AssetCo and Premier Milton into the new year.
The new deadline is 18 January, but R&M said “This revised deadline may be extended further, at the request of the Board of River and Mercantile and with the consent of the Takeover Panel.”
Both AssetCo, an Aim-listed acquisition vehicle chaired by Gilbert, and rival fund manager Premier Milton have made bids for R&M, and were originally given until today to confirm their takeover offers.
Both firms already have stakes in R&M, with AssetCo holding 5.85 per cent, and Premier Miton 5 per cent.
A deal with either contender is dependent on R&M’s planned deal – reportedly worth £230m, according to Sky News – with Schroders, which was announced in October, being completed.
Gilbert, an investment industry heavyweight, founded Aberdeen Asset Management in 1983 and helped to arrange the £11bn merger between Standard Life Investments and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017, which led to the creation of Abrdn, one of the UK’s largest asset managers.
The well-known fund management veteran has continued his spree of acquisitions since April when he was named chair of AssetCo, which has since acquired Scottish asset management boutique Saracen Fund Managers.