Treasury Group (TRG) will sell its loan assets and more than 40 per cent of the equity in Treasury Asia Asset Management (TAAM) to Japanese-based Nikko Asset Management (NikkoAM).
The sale will also result in the transfer of the eight-member TAAM investment, founded and headed by Peter Sartori, to NikkoAM with the sale of the 43.96 per cent equity holding based on the book value of TRG's investment in TAAM as at 31 October 2013.
The sale was flagged by TRG in its 2013 full year results presentation and its annual report in which the group stated that it was reviewing the role of TAAM after a reduction in funds under management impacted the business's financial performance.
In making the announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange, TRG stated that it would recover the value of all invested capital and did not expect to record any abnormal gains or losses in relation to the price received. TRG also stated the sale should be completed before mid-November subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions.
TRG chair Mike Fitzpatrick said while the group has supported TAAM for the past eight years, the Asian market had been volatile "and funds have struggled to support managers with an Asian focus, irrespective of performance".
TAAM chief investment officer Peter Sartori said its sectoral coverage approach would add to the geographic and thematic focus in use by Nikko AM. The chief executive of Nikko AM, Charles Beazley, said TAAM would bring sophisticated Asian equity strategies which would be offered to institutional and retail investors.
The purchase is not the first entrance into the Australia market for NikkoAM, which acquired Tyndall Asset Management in 2011.
