There were 20 money management deals in the second quarter of 2023. Disclosed assets under management involved in the latest quarter’s transactions totaled $417 billion, and the average deal size was $20.8 billion.
In the second quarter, Franklin Templeton announced it will acquire Putnam Investments from Great-West Lifeco for $925 million, with a contingent payout up to $375 million. Since Great-West’s acquisition of Putnam in 2007, Putnam’s AUM dropped 41.18% to $136 billion from $192 billion while quantitative money manager affiliate PanAgora grew its assets steadily to $33 billion from $22 billion over the years. Great-West Lifeco will take a 4.9% stake in Franklin for at least five years but retain quantitative shop PanAgora for its upside.
TPG agreed to acquire $53 billion credit and real estate manager Angelo Gordon in a $2.7 billion deal, which includes an earnout payment of $400 million and a minimum 16% annual fee-related revenue growth. The acquisition is expected to allow Angelo Gordon to tap into non-traditional lower-middle-market companies and provide services to larger companies with EBITDA of $25 million or above with a variety of private credit strategies including corporate credit, special situations and direct lending.
Liontrust Asset Management agreed to acquire GAM Holdings in a $120 million deal through new share issuance to enhance its fixed-income product offerings, while GAM shareholders will retain a 12.6% stake in the combined group. The shareholder group is led by billionaire Xavier Niel with at least an 8.3% stake in GAM and hedge fund manager Albert Saporta. GAM shareholders were considering rejecting the takeover offer from Liontrust due to price volatility, citing that the $121 million all-share offer valued at a 16% discount without a cash component signals that GAM is significantly undervalued. GAM agreed to sell its fund management services business to Carne Global Fund Services on June 29.
Hunter Point Capital acquired an undisclosed stake in alternative firm Coller Capital for its credit strategies and a potential move into private wealth. Previously, Hunter Point Capital acquired an undisclosed minority stake in middle-market Inflexion Private Equity Partners to leverage its business scale and direct investments across various industries. Aegon Asset Management agreed to acquire NIBC Bank’s $1.3 billion North Westerly European CLO platform to strengthen its alternative fixed-income business.
Sequoia Capital will decentralize its investment business into three independent parts by March 31, 2024. Sequoia U.S. and Europe will retain the original name, and its Chinese subsidiary with $56 billion in AUM will be rebranded as HongShan. The India and Southeast Asia subsidiary will be known as Peak XV Partners.
There also were seven deals in the quarter that did not involve money managers. Huntington National Bank’s 401(k) advisory and retirement planning business is the most recent acquisition of OneDigital Investment Advisors after it decided to expand its retirement plan and wealth management service in February 2020. Over the past few years, OneDigital has acquired Resources Investment Advisors, Truist’s institutional 401(k) investment advisory services business, Fulcrum Partners, Westminster Consulting and Future Benefits, among others.
