British fund manager Jupiter has secured the go-ahead from its shareholder to acquire local rival Merian Global Investors.
At a general meeting, 95.04 % of the shareholders voted in favour of the takeover while 4.96% voted against the deal.
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The deal currently awaits regulatory approval.
Jupiter CEO Andrew Formica calls the shareholder support an “important milestone”, saying that it depicts the deal’s strong strategic and financial rationale.
Formica stated: “We remain on track to complete the acquisition on, or as soon as possible after, 1 July 2020 and have been working closely with colleagues at Merian on the integration, which is progressing smoothly despite the lockdown.”
Jupiter entered into an agreement to buy Merian Global Investors for £370m ($450.2m) in February this year.
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By GlobalDataThe transaction also includes an earn-out payment of £20m to key management shareholders of Merian, including Buxton.
The merged business is said to be the second-largest retail fund manager in the UK with more than £65bn in assets.
Merian was spun out from Old Mutual in 2018 in a management buyout headed by Richard Buxton and backed by TA Associates.
Meanwhile, the market turbulence triggered by the Covid-19 crisis has hit the performance of both Jupiter and Merian.
Merian’s AUM totalled £15.7bn at the end of March 2020, a 30% slump compared to December-end 2019.
AUM at Jupiter dropped 18% to £35bn over the same period.
