River & Mercantile Group (RMG) has been approached by Premier Miton and AssetCo in separate merger and acquisition offers, driving the fund manager’s share price up 13%.
RMG confirmed it was planning to sell one of its two divisions to shareholders for £230 million, after which Premier Miton Group approached the firm about a merger that would result in a combined business worth more than £18bn in assets.
AssetCo made a separate offer to RMG in a non-binding securities exchange proposal.
The firm already owns a 5.8% stake in the group.
Both AssetCo and Premier Miton have said that any deal would be contingent upon the successful sale of RMG’s solutions business to Schroders.
Upon completion of the sale, the firm will be worth approximately £4.4 billion.
“There can be no certainty that any offer will be made by either of AssetCo or Premier Miton, nor as to the terms on which any such offer might be made,” RMG said in a statement.
There has been a flurry of bids and mergers across the global fund management sector in recent months.
In May, AssetCo announced it was buying Edinburgh-based Saracen Fund Managers for £2.75 million. Shortly after, it acquired a 30% stake in Parmenion for £28 million.
Premier and Miton’s own merger completed two years ago.
Premier Miton said in a statement: “Premier Miton is an established, well-capitalised and profitable fund management operation, with a strong balance sheet and attractive dividend policy.
“Premier Miton believes the scale and synergy benefits arising from a combination with River and Mercantile would drive value accretion for both sets of shareholders.”
AssetCo said in a statement: “The AssetCo directors believe that RMG Asset Management and AssetCo are highly complementary and that a combination of AssetCo and RMG Asset Management would create significant value for the combined group’s clients, portfolio managers, employees and shareholders.”
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