There were 17 money management deals in the third quarter of 2023. Disclosed assets under management involved in the latest quarter’s transactions totaled $331.7 billion, and the average deal size was $19.5 billion.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the world’s largest money manager is open to new transformative acquisitions related to robotics or Al in the years to come. BlackRock, which has a dominating presence in stocks and bonds investing, purchased Barclays Capital Investors in 2009 to enhance and expand its ETF and quant strategies, is now pushing hard into alternatives.
In the third quarter, Generali Investment Holdings, a subsidiary of Generali Group, agreed to acquire $157 billion institutional fixed-income manager Conning Holdings from Cathay Life while Cathay Life is receiving 16.75% stake of Generali Investment. Through this acquisition, Generali and Cathay Life will establish a 10-year complementary business partnership that will benefit both firms, and Conning and its affiliates will continue to be led by current management teams.
Fortress Investment Group agreed to pay $130 million for a 7.7% stake in Nassau Financial Group while Golden Gate Capital will remain as the majority controlling shareholder. Nassau Financial will have full access to Fortress’s credit investing strategies with special interests in direct lending and asset-backed securities.
Franklin Templeton agreed to purchase Alcentra, one of the largest European credit and private debt managers, for $350 million in cash alongside an additional $350 million contingent payment.
CVC will acquire a majority stake in $17.5 billion DIF Capital Partners that primarily focuses on core/build-to-core and core-plus infrastructure in Europe. CVC specializes in private equity, secondaries, and credit.
As part of the strategic relationship developed by $645 billion Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management and Osmosis, SuMi TRUST signed a non-binding agreement to purchase a minority stake in sustainable equities Osmosis to expand sustainability product offerings. Nikko Asset Management, a subsidiary of SuMi TRUST, signed a letter of intent to acquire a separate minority investment in Osmosis. Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Co. and Bank of Montreal agreed to acquire minority stakes in $14.5 billion global multistrategy alternative firm Sagard.
Rithm Capital Corp. agreed to acquire $34 billion Sculptor Capital Management for $639 million at $11.15 per share. To eliminate debt financing risks, Boaz Weinstein increased equity commitments and offered to buy Sculptor at $12.76 per share along with Bidder J investor group including Bill Ackman, Marc Lasry and Jeff Yass. Former Sculptor CEO Rob Shafir and Dan Och favored Bidder J’s higher offer but CEO Jimmy Levin preferred Rithm’s propsal. The acquisition will allow Rithm to leverage Sculptor’s global platform, and the current leadership team will remain in place.
There also were nine deals in the quarter that did not involve money managers. Brookfield Reinsurance agreed to pay $4.3 billion in cash and stock to purchase annuity provider American Equity Investment Life Holding Co., which recently announced partnerships with 26North Partners founded by Apollo co-founder Josh Harris. MSCI agreed to purchase 66% of Burgiss Group for $697 million with cash, after its initial investment of $190 million in 2020. With 5% allocation to private equity, New Zealand Super Fund acquired a 4.99% stake in Euroclear Group for an undisclosed amount.
