Financial conglomerate AMP will repurchase the 15% stake Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking acquired in AMP's Sydney-based money management arm, AMP Capital, in 2012, the two companies said Thursday.
AMP will pay Tokyo-based MUTB A$460 million ($329 million) for the stake. The deal is expected to close by Sept. 30.
MUTB purchased its AMP stake in 2012 for A$425 million, establishing an alliance "focused on expanding AMP Capital's distribution footprint in Asia and providing MUTB's institutional and retail investors with access to AMP Capital's products," according to an AMP news release Thursday.
At an analyst briefing on his firm's latest quarterly results Thursday, AMP CEO Francesco De Ferrari suggested that MUTB's acquisition last year of Commonwealth Bank of Australia's money management subsidiary, First State Investments — to be renamed First Sentier Investors in September — drove the move to end the two firms' capital tie-up.
MUTB "bought a key competitor of ours here on the market, and we needed to resolve the strategic dilemma, so we parted as good partners, each driving their own strategy," he said.
AMP and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the parent company of MUTB, said AMP Capital and MUTB will continue to cooperate strategically, with AMP Capital continuing to deliver its investment products through MUTB's network.
In partnership with MUTB, AMP Capital has been able to post "significant growth in Asia," Mr. De Ferrari said in AMP's news release. A spokeswoman said the firm does not break out regional numbers.
"Japan remains one of AMP Capital's most successful and strategically important markets, presenting a number of valuable opportunities," AMP Capital CEO Boe Pahari added in the AMP release.
Although the two firms' formal business and capital agreements will end, they will look to maintain their mutually beneficial relationship in Japan, cooperating over "a wide range of areas," including offering AMP Capital products in Japan, a Tokyo-based spokesman for MUFJ said in an email.
AMP Capital had AUM of A$192.4 billion ($132.2 billion) as of June 30.
