AMVESCAP PLC is offering £1.05 billion ($1.52 billion) in cash and stock to acquire U.K. retail money manager Perpetual PLC, in a deal that will give AMVESCAP an additional £11.8 billion in assets under management. Hugh Ward, currently CEO of INVESCO U.K., will be made CEO of the combined business. The deal is pending shareholder approval; AMVESCAP’s offer so far has been approved by 42% of Perpetual’s shareholders
The deal gives AMVESCAP — with assets under management of £291.8 billion as of Sept. 30 — a firm foothold in the U.K. retail mutual funds industry, where Perpetual distributes through independent financial advisers. INVESCO recently launched a defined contribution pensions business to benefit from an expected rise in U.K. retail fund flows.
