There were 13 money management deals in the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease from 17 in the prior quarter. Disclosed assets under management involved in the latest quarter’s transactions totaled $90.4 billion, dipping from $331.6 billion, and the average deal size was $7 billion compared to $19.5 billion in the prior quarter. Mercer agreed to acquire Vanguard Group’s $60 billion AUM OCIO business Vanguard Institutional Advisory Services for its differentiated investment philosophy, specialties in non-for-profit sector and alternative asset classes.
In the fourth quarter, Kudu Investment Management acquired a minority stake in Sage Advisory Services, which specializes in fixed-income, liability-driven investing, and global tactical ETF asset allocation strategies and has $23 billion in AUM. Wilshire has agreed to acquire a $20.8 billion Lyxor Asset Management from European manager Amundi for its hedge fund managed accounts and alternative offerings. Keppel agreed to acquire European real estate manager Aermont Capital Group for $1 billion, with an initial 50% stake for up to S$517 million ($387 million) and the remaining 50% stake is expected to be acquired in 2028.
Bonaccord Capital Partners made a passive minority investment in $5.6 billion Revelstoke Capital Partners. Investcorp has acquired a 50% stake in Corsair Capital’s infrastructure business, which invests in transportation, logistics and infrastructure subsectors. Investcorp Corsair Infrastructure Partners has $4.8 billion in AUM, and no changes will be made to existing platform companies, portfolio assets and operating structure. Manulife Investment Management will acquire $13.5 billion multisector alternative credit firm CQS for its credit platform, complementary fixed income and multiasset solutions. CQS will maintain its autonomy but will be absorbed into Manulife’s scaled distribution channels.
There also were four deals in the quarter that did not involve money managers. As a systematic buyer in the secondary market and portfolio optimizer, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board recently sold a $2.1 billion diversified portfolio comprised of 20 limited partnership fund interests that have invested in European buyout funds over the course of 20 years to Ardian.
Blackstone Energy Partners III has invested $600 million to acquire Power Grid Components to support its energy transition strategies with the expectations that decarbonization requires $4.5 trillion of annual investment over the next 25 years. Its forward-looking secular trend predicts the electric grid is essential to the growth of renewables due to the need to replace aging infrastructure and increasing grid capacity. Blackstone previously partnered with Vista Equity Partners and purchased grid modeling and simulation company Energy Exemplar in October and Sabre Industries in 2021.
