Shareholders of Janus Capital Group Inc (Janus) have approved the US investment firm’s merger with London-based Henderson Group plc (Henderson) to create a combined company that will have AUM of more than US$320 billion.
Janus said approximately 86.2% of shares outstanding were cast in favour of the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday, April 25.
“We are pleased with the overwhelming support,” Janus Chairman Glenn Schafer says in a statement released after the meeting, adding that shareholders “recognise the tremendous value of a combined company.”
“The combination of Janus and Henderson accelerates both businesses’ strategic objectives for growth, diversification, and the creation of a truly global active investment manager,” adds Dick Weil, chief executive officer of Janus. “We are excited by the possibilities and look forward to what our united organisations will achieve together.”
Henderson’s shareholders were scheduled to vote on the deal yesterday [April 25]. The merger is expected to close on May 30.
The combined company, which will be called Janus Henderson Global Investors plc, will have a market capitalisation of about $6 billion. Henderson is expected to hold approximately 57% of the merged entity, and Janus, 43%.
The all-stock “merger of equals”, which was announced last October, is expected to create “a leading global active asset manager with significant scale, diverse products and investment strategies, and depth and breadth in global distribution,” according to Janus.
Janus’ largest shareholder, Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd, will hold approximately 9% stake the merged company, and is expected to raise its shareholding to at least 15%.
Henderson will be the parent holding company for the combined group and will be renamed Janus Henderson Group plc, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Henderson will be delisted from the London Stock Exchange following the merger, but will retain its listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.
Janus and Henderson had AUM of $204.7 billion and £103.1 billion ($132 billion), respectively, as of March 31, 2017.
