UK hedge fund manager eyes US expansion, offers private equity group TA Associates exit
FORTUNE — The world’s largest listed hedge fund manager Man Group PLC (EMG.L) confirmed Thursday it is in talks to buy Boston-based fund manager Numeric Investors, a move that would boost its presence in the US and increase its access to major pension fund managers.
Numeric’s management, who control the company, put the firm up for sale just over a year ago. Numeric, founded in 1989, has $14 billion in assets under management from 47 institutional clients. It specializes in long-only equity funds based on quantitative investment strategies, which are heavily reliant on mathematical models.
For Man, which manages around $55 billion in assets, the deal would restore some of the bulk it has lost as customers have left its flagship AHL funds since the financial crisis. A deal would also offer Boston-based private equity group TA Associates an exit from the minority stake it bought in 2004.
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Man declined to give any indication of how much it would pay for the company, or the size of the stake it intended to buy, saying the talks were “ongoing”. There is no public information on Numeric’s profitability.
Man Group’s shares reacted well to the news, rising 5.6% to GBP5.30 by midday in London.