Henderson crosses pond to make $6 billion swoop for Janus Capital

Funds giant Henderson unveiled a transatlantic takeover of US peer Janus Capital to create a $320 billion (£248 billion) global money-management powerhouse.

The deal, in the works since February, creates a company worth $6 billion and paves the way for more possible mergers at other fund managers, who are looking to survive shrinking fees and increased competition in the sector.

Janus is best known in the UK as the home of the so-called Bond King Bill Gross, who left Pimco last year amid acrimony with senior staff to run a smaller pot of cash at Janus.

Henderson shares rose the most in seven years to a high of 274p from a close at Friday of 231.9p.

Chief executive Andrew Formica will become co-chief executive alongside his Janus counterpart Dick Weil, who will move to London.

“It’s been a long-held ambition of mine to have a stronger position in the US market and in one swoop we’ve achieved it,” Formica said. “Dick would come through London from time to time and we just hit it off. We had a similar approach and came at problems the same way.”

Henderson’s board, which was advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Centerview Partners, met on Saturday morning before both sides agreed to the terms yesterday.

Henderson will keep the headquarters in London but de-list from the stock market, where it is listed on the FTSE 250, and move to a primary New York listing.

Although dubbed a “merger of equals,” the all-share merger gives Henderson’s investors 57% of the combined group and Janus 43%.