Henderson’s Wizard of Oz strikes triple takeover deal to add £6bn
HENDERSON Group, which once used Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho in its adverts, yesterday swooped on a trio of Australian fund management businesses to bolster the firm’s assets under management by £5.7bn.
Boss Andrew Formica, who is Australian, has struck a deal to buy two boutique fund divisions called Perennial Growth Management and Perennial Fixed Income for an upfront price of £37m plus further cash depending on the groups’ performance in future.
The FTSE-250 listed firm has also agreed to buy the rest of another Aussie fund manager it did not already own. 90 West Asset Management, which runs £200m, previously sold a 41 per cent stake in Henderson and has sold the rest to the firm. Analysts said the group would pay about £50m in total for all three deals.
Formica is aiming to take Henderson’s assets under management to £128bn by 2018 and is on track after taking the group’s to £99bn with yesterday’s deals. Earlier this year he hinted at a strategy to grow funds through M&A activity.
Around £8.5bn of assets are based in Australia. Henderson has deep historical ties in Australia with a dual listing in Sydney and about 60 per cent of its shareholders in the country.