H2O Asset Management will acquire a majority stake in systematic commodity-focused hedge fund manager Arctic Blue Capital.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
H2O is acquiring the stake owned by Stable Asset Management. The remaining minority stake will continue to be owned by the management team, said a spokesman. The size of the stake was not disclosed.
H2O manages $14.6 billion, and will provide the infrastructure and operational support necessary for Arctic Blue to grow. The firm was set up in 2010 with the backing of Natixis Global Asset Management. It runs global macro strategies.
The Arctic Blue strategy was launched in 2008 at the C$270.7 billion ($210.2 billion) Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Montreal. It was then run in-house at CIBC Bank and Millennium Capital Partners. In 2014, it was seeded as a stand-alone firm by Stable Asset Management, opening to third-party investors for the first time. Arctic Blue Capital has $160 million in assets under management.
Arctic Blue will continue to be led by Jean-Jacques Duhot, chief investment officer and founder. Its flagship Arctic Blue Original Strategy and equity-focused Atlanterra Strategy will be added to the H2O distribution platform.
"This deal is timely given current market conditions," said Cyril Beriot, head of managed accounts at H2O, in the release. "We expect the global economy to enter a reflationary phase over the short-to-medium term and our clients will now benefit from a suite of high-quality strategies across all asset classes that are perfectly suited to this new environment."
The deal is pending approval by the Financial Conduct Authority.
