Macquarie Group agreed to buy Delaware Investments from Lincoln Financial Group for $428 million in cash, “subject to certain closing adjustments,” Macquarie and Lincoln announced early Wednesday.
In a news release, Macquarie said it will provide funding to further expand Delaware's multiboutique approach and called the planned acquisition a step in its strategy of building a “global asset management capability.” The addition of Delaware's more than $125 billion in combined institutional and retail assets will lift Macquarie's global assets under management to more than $300 billion.
Delaware currently manages more than $68 billion in general account assets for its insurance company parent, or 54% of the money manager's total assets, and will continue to do so after the purchase is completed around Dec. 31 “under a long-term contract” of 10 years, according to both companies.
Delaware was also managing $25.3 billion in institutional client assets and $32.6 billion in retail client assets as of June 30. By asset class, U.S. fixed income accounted for $96.8 billion, or more than three quarters, of Delaware's assets, followed by just under $20 billion in U.S. equities and just under $9 billion in international equities.
Delaware's current management team, led by President Patrick Coyne, will continue to lead the company.