Liontrust is set to acquire Majedie in an initial consideration of £80 million, plus up to £40 million for excess NAV and deferred consideration.
Majedie’s institutional fund management team will join Liontrust when the acquisition is completed in April 2022. On completion, the team will be renamed the Liontrust Global Fundamental team and continue to be headed by James de Uphaugh.
There will be no change to the firm’s fund management team, or its investment process, but the Liontrust brand will be used for all Majedie’s UK, US, global and international equity funds.
The proposed acquisition will boost Liontrust’s pro forma assets under managements by £5.8 billion to over £42.3 billion, and significantly expand the firm’s existing institutional proposition.
Rob Harris, chief executive officer of Majedie, will join Liontrust as head of global institutional business.
Adrian Lowcock, an independent investment expert said: “Liontrust have been amongst the main groups leading consolidation in the sector. They have the resources, brand, and expertise to provide the right support to boutique’s such as Majedie. This addition to Liontrust will help strengthen the brand.
“Any acquisition always comes with some risks and disruption, however previous deals have gone fairly smoothly so investors shouldn’t need to be concerned. Liontrust often look to retain the talent from their acquisitions, whilst providing additional resources.”
Nick Wood, head of fund research at Quilter Cheviot said M&A in the asset manager space is a constant feature.
“Most recently in the UK, speculation around River & Mercantile and now the Liontrust acquisition of Majedie means that investors are, more and more, finding themselves holding funds where the asset management house has changed through acquisition,” he said.
“Only time will tell what the acquisition means exactly for the underlying funds. But Liontrust already has a very well-known UK franchise run by Julian Fosh and Anthony Cross, and with UK equities there is an obvious overlap. What this might mean for the Majedie UK franchise will no doubt be resolved in due course.”
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