The board of the asset manager Pendal has unanimously agreed to be acquired by Perpetual.
The deal, which sees Perpetual acquire 100% of Pendal’s issued shares, will create a multi-boutique asset manager with combined assets under management (AUM) of more than $201 billion.
In an announcement to the ASX, under the terms of the deal Pendal shareholders will receive one Perpetual share for every 7.5 Pendal shares, plus $1.976 cash.
It was also confirmed the Pendal, JO Hambro, TSW and Regnan brands will be retained as part of the acquisition.
“Perpetual’s multi-boutique model is complementary to Pendal’s and our fund managers’ investment independence is assured,” said Nick Good, CEO at Pendal.
“We have always been confident in our ability to grow Pendal’s business across our key markets organically; however, the combination of the two businesses delivers a significant increase in scale, an enlarged and enhanced global distribution team, greater product capabilities, expertise and diversity, and global ESG leadership,” Good added.
“All of this will enable us to achieve our strategic goals sooner while, at the same time, achieving an attractive valuation via the improved proposal for Pendal shareholders,” he said.
Rob Adams, chief executive officer and managing director of Perpetual, will lead the combined group, and up to three directors of Pendal will be invited to join the Perpetual board.
Adams said, “The combined group will have premium, respected brands domestically and globally, strong cultural alignment based on the continued investment autonomy within each boutique, will be a global leader in active ESG asset management and will have a materially enlarged global distribution team to drive improved future growth.
“We believe the multi-boutique model that both firms espouse is the ideal model for active asset management, bringing together the strengths of both traditional and pure boutique business models, delivering scale, high-quality investment teams backed by deeply resourced distribution and global governance frameworks. We are delighted with the strong support by Pendal’s portfolio managers for the transaction and our model.”
Earlier this year, Pendal rejected a bid by Perpetual by way of a scheme of arrangement for $6.23 per share.
At the time, Pendal said it believed the bid was not in its shareholders’ best interests and significantly undervalued the company.
