EIM SA founder Arpad Busson agreed to sell his funds-of-funds firm to Gottex Fund Management Holdings.
EIM, based in Nyon, Switzerland, will receive as many as 14 million Gottex shares as part of the purchase, the companies said in a statement Monday. That values the acquisition around 31.5 million Swiss francs ($36 million), based on Gottex's closing price on Dec. 13.
EIM's AUM fell to about $3 billion at the end of September from more than $14 billion before the 2008 global financial crisis.
“Combining our respective businesses will enable us to create a major industry player with a global footprint,” Mr. Busson, who will become non-executive chairman of the combined business, said in the statement.
Mr. Busson founded EIM in 1992. Gottex, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, oversees $5.8 billion of what it calls “fee-earning” assets, according to the statement.
