Twenty eight money management deals took place in the first quarter of 2021. In the first quarter of 2020, there were nine transactions. Assets under management involved in the latest quarter's transactions totaled $1,262 billion, down 45% from $2,294 billion in the previous quarter.
In the first quarter, Credit Suisse Group announced that it would split its Credit Suisse Asset Management into a separate unit due to its negative association with collapsed firm Greensill Capital and is liquidating $10 billion supply chain finance funds. Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to sell $603 billion money manager Wells Fargo Asset Management to private equity managers GTCR and Reverence Capital Partners for $2.1 billion. Slate Asset Management agreed to acquire the commercial real estate business of Annaly Capital Management for $2.3 billion. EQT agreed to acquire Exeter Property Group for $1.8 billion. Dai-ihci Life Holdings agreed to sell its 17% stake in Janus Henderson, which manages $10.4 billion in assets for Dai-ichi and its affiliates.
There also were 27 deals in the quarter that did not involve money managers. Brookfield Asset Management and a group of institutional investors agreed to acquire the outstanding 40% shares of Brookfield Property Partners for $5.9 billion to take the company private. Apollo Global Management agreed to pay $11 billion to acquire Athene Holding. Information technology company Wipro agreed to acquire Capco for $1.5 billion. Investor Bill Foley's SPAC company agreed to merge with Blackstone Group's Alight Solutions, and it would go public at a valuation of $7.3 billion. CAPTRUST Financial Advisors acquired Cammack Retirement Group, which is considered CAPTRUST's 47th acquisition since 2006. Aquiline Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in SageView Advisory Group with more than $119 billion in assets under advisement.
All information is based on transactions reported by Pensions & Investments’ global reporting staff.
