Henderson acquires Perennial businesses

Henderson Group has expanded its Australian presence with the acquisition of 100 per cent of Perennial Fixed Interest and Perennial Growth Management from IOOF.

The acquisition of the Perennial Fixed Interest and Perennial Growth Management from IOOF will increase Henderson’s assets under management (AUM) by $10.7 billion.

In a third and separate transaction, Henderson has increased its ownership of 90 West Asset Management, a global natural resources equities manager with $300 million in AUM, from 41 per cent to 100 per cent.

The three acquisitions will take Henderson’s ‘Pan Asian’ AUM to 11 per cent of the group’s total AUM, from $7.8 billion to $18.7 billion.

A statement by Henderson said the Perennial transactions would “create an opportunity to forge a strong relationship between Henderson and IOOF, one of Australia’s leading wealth management and advice platforms”.

Henderson chief executive Andrew Formica said developing the firm’s presence in Australia is a “strategic priority” for Henderson.

“These acquisitions will give us recognised domestic investment management capabilities to complement our global offering and take us into the Top 30 of Australian asset managers,” Mr Formica said.

“They help us build scale in our Australian business well ahead of our previous expectations. On completion, we will more than double our AUM from Pan Asian clients and have around 40 investment professionals based in the region, managing money on behalf of local and international investors,” he said.

“This is another important step towards achieving our ambition to become a truly global asset manager,” Mr Formica said.

IOOF retains ownership of Perennial Value (a specialist active, value-style Australian equities manager) which Henderson chose not to acquire.

InvestorDaily