Gartmore seals Hermes tie up
FUND management firms Gartmore and Hermes yesterday sealed a deal to create a new joint venture, combining their private equity fund of fund businesses into a vehicle with £4.1bn of assets under management.
The new firm, called Hermes GPE, will be 50 per cent owned by each party.
Gartmore and Hermes have recruited a raft of senior industry staff to run the venture, including new chief executive Alan MacKay, who has spent over two decades of his career at private equity group 3i. MacKay was appointed to the board of 3i in 1994 and subsequently held roles as managing director of its Nordic business, a founding partner of 3i Quoted Private Equity and global lead partner of its healthcare division.
Hermes GPE will also boast the name of Kevin Carter, formerly head of the European pensions advisory group at JP Morgan, on its board as a non-executive director.
Susan Flynn, the former head of private equity at Hermes, and Peter Gale, her counterpart over at Gartmore, become co-chief investment officers at the new firm.
The deal was first announced at the time of Gartmore’s final results a month ago, when the firm said the joint venture would “significantly improve the growth prospects” of its business. At the time, private equity assets under management made up £1.1bn, or five per cent, of Gartmore’s £22.2bn total assets under management.
Hermes last year made the decision to move away from its direct private equity investments to concentrate on its private equity fund of funds business, appointing Bridgepoint to manage its Hermes Private Equity Partners II and III vehicles.