Nelson Peltz, the Wall Street billionaire, has spearheaded a $7.4bn (£5.5bn) deal for one of the City’s biggest fund managers.
The activist investor’s Trian Fund Management has taken over UK-based Janus Henderson alongside General Catalyst, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital group that has previously backed the likes of Deliveroo and Monzo.
The Qatar Investment Authority and Sun Hung Kai, a Hong Kong-based financial institution, were also part of a group of investors helping to bankroll the deal.
Mr Peltz’s Trian struck the deal for Janus Henderson after building a 20.6pc stake in the business over five years. Mr Peltz gained a seat on the board in 2022.
One of Wall Street’s most high-profile investors, Mr Peltz is also the father of Nicola Peltz, the American actress married to Brooklyn Beckham.
A well-known activist, Mr Peltz first revealed Trian’s stake in the City fund manager in October 2020, just a few years after the troubled merger that created the firm in 2017.
Trian has since attempted to oust previous management at the firm – which oversees around $484bn (£360bn) in assets – and pushed it to stop losing clients.
Active stock pickers such as Janus Henderson have struggled to retain clients in recent years, as investors shift towards more affordable passive products instead.
Pressure has led Ali Dibadj, Janus Henderson’s chief executive who joined the business in 2022, to push the asset manager into less traditional sectors such as private credit.
The firm announced in August that it had bought Victory Park, a $6bn investment giant exposed to sectors such as consumer lending and music royalties.
Janus Henderson confirmed on Monday that it had accepted an offer of $49 per share, which represents an improvement on the group’s first offer of $46 per share two months ago.
Following the news, shares in the New York-listed asset manager rose by 3.4pc to $47.58 in early-morning trading, the biggest jump in its share price since late October.
As part of the proposed takeover, Janus Henderson shareholders will be paid cash in a deal valuing the company at approximately $7.4bn.
Mr Peltz has previously taken an activist stake in a number of other British businesses.
In late 2021, he built a stake in Unilever and eventually gained a seat on the board.
This ultimately led to Unilever spinning off its £7bn ice cream division as a separate public company, which started trading in the Netherlands in early December.
Before that, Mr Peltz was also the driving force in the break-up of Cadbury Schweppes, helping force the British confectioner to sell its Dr Pepper drinks business.
The sale ultimately paved the way for the acquisition of the standalone Cadbury business by Kraft in 2010.
In a statement, Mr Peltz said: “We are proud of the company’s performance in recent years led by Ali and his outstanding team. We see a growing opportunity to accelerate investment in people, technology and clients.”
Janus Henderson employs more than 2,000 people and was formed from the mega-merger of FTSE-listed Henderson Group and Janus.
It is listed in New York but has remained based in the City of London, occupying a 116,000 sq ft office in Bishopsgate.
The fund manager traces its roots back to 1934 when it was established to manage the estate of Sir Alexander Henderson, the railway financier.
Mr Dibadj will continue to lead Janus Henderson from London following the takeover, with the company retaining its presence in the capital and in Denver, Colorado.
John Cassaday, the chairman of Janus Henderson, said that the board had determined that the deal was “in the best interest of Janus Henderson, its shareholders, clients, employees and other stakeholders and delivers compelling certainty and cash value to our public shareholders at a meaningful premium to the unaffected share price”.