Vontobel Asset Management announced Wednesday it will acquire a 60% stake in London-based fixed-income boutique TwentyFour Asset Management, pending regulatory approvals in the U.K. and Switzerland.
Terms of the deal aren't being disclosed, said Rebeca Garcia, a spokeswoman for Vontobel.
TwentyFour Asset Management, with roughly £4.4 billion ($6.6 billion) in assets under management, will continue to operate independently, with the firm's partners and key employees retaining a 40% stake in the business.
A news release said TwentyFour Asset Management's 10 partners have agreed to invest a “significant share” of the proceeds they'll receive from Vontobel into existing TwentyFour or Vontobel investment funds.
The agreement calls for Vontobel to acquire the remaining 40% stake over the “longer term.”
Asked whether there are additional contractual obligations tying key TwentyFour Asset Management employees to their firm over any specified time period, Ms. Garcia declined to comment.
The news release said TwentyFour Asset Management's actively managed AUM lifts the combined fixed-income AUM for the multiboutique asset management firm to £12 billion, and expands its range of offerings in that asset class at a time of “significant demand in the current environment of record low interest rates.”
John Magrath, a London-based partner and head of distribution with TwentyFour Asset Management, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Vontobel had $47.8 billion in AUM as of Dec. 31.