Man Group soars on surprise Aalto deal and funds jump
Deal-hungry hedge-fund giant Man Group saw its shares soar today on the back of a jump in funds and a surprise acquisition.
The London-based asset manager is taking over US and Europe-focused fund Aalto in a deal that sees it pay $25 million (£20.5 million) initially.
That could rise over eight years to $207 million depending on how it performs.
Aalto has $1.7 billion of funds, mostly in real-estate equity and debt. Its founders, Mikko Syrjänen and Petteri Barman, will stay at the helm.
In the past three months Man Group’s funds under management grew 6% to $80.7 billion.
That’s a boon to chief executive Luke Ellis, who has only been in the job since September.
The shares leapt more than 14% to 124p in early trading. Man says it has cash on hand to pursue more takeover deals.
It also launched a new business arm, Man Global Private Markets, aimed at longer-term investments for wealthy clients
