Failed $400m RidgeWorth deal hits Henderson’s profits
FUND management group Henderson said yesterday its failed takeover of US fund manager RidgeWorth had made a sizeable dent to its profit forecasts.
In a trading update, Henderson said recurring profits for the six months to end-June will be between £47m and £49m – six per cent lower than expected. That compares with the £27m recurring profit haul the company posted last year.
“This is after recognising deal costs of £3m in connection with the potential acquisition of RidgeWorth Capital Management,” Henderson said.
Last month, Henderson pulled out of a deal to acquire the fund management arm of banking group SunTrust for a reported price of up to $400m (£264.5m). Last month a Henderson spokesman said the firm is still on the lookout for acquisitions in the US.
Gross performance and transaction fees for the first half of the year will be about £41m, versus £18.7m in the same period last year.
“Markets have remained volatile as governments begin to repair their finances with fiscal tightening leading to a fragility in confidence,” said Andrew Formica, Henderson’s chief executive.
On Wednesday, Henderson said it had transferred its international property fund over to Aviva Investors following a strategic review of the fund’s prospects.
The fund only reopened to daily dealing in February this year, having previously been closed for over a year when redemptions snowballed during the credit crunch. Aviva will combine the fund with the £223m of assets in its own European and Asia-Pacific real estate funds.