Global asset management company, Affiliated Managers Group (AMG), reached an agreement during November to acquire an equity interest in Cape Town-based Abax Investments.
In a statement, Abax said it was "flattered" to have been selected to join this "all-star collection of fund managers on the global stage". The company further said:
"More importantly, we are attracted by AMG's investment philosophy of partnering with the best fund management boutiques around the world and allowing the management teams to continue running their firms without interference. Over the extensive due diligence process which both parties performed we were able to verify this through interviews with several affiliates, some of whom have already been partners with AMG for more than a decade."
Although this initial stake is a minority interest, it represents the start of a long-term partnership, Abax has said.
Abax started with three clients, three fund managers and R2 billion funds under management but grown to a size of approximately 30 investment mandates, eight fund managers, two investment analysts, two trainee investment analysts and R78 billion funds under management (as at October 2015).
Headquartered in Florida and London, NYSE-listed AMG, as at November 2015, had a market cap of $10 billion and holds stakes in 32 firms which collectively manage assets in excess of $615 billion. Its investment into Abax will be the company's first into a fund manager based in an emerging market.
The transaction is expected to close by 31 December this year.
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