Legg Mason is taking its first steps on the "401(k) trail," it's term for the growth of assets in investment and retirement products overseas, which appears to be following the U.S. lead. The Baltimore-based company announced today a cash offer for
Johnson Fry, one of the last remaining independent UK money managers.
The offer will be made by
Merrill Lynch Intl.. for
Legg Mason (UK) Holdings Plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Legg Mason, as required by UK securities laws. The offer is 275 pence per share -- approximately $US70 million.
Johnson Fry is a retail fund management company, headquartered in London, with approximately $2 billion under management. The company has concentrated on retail fund management since 1995, divesting itself of other products and services it offered.
Its current products include unit trusts (similar to mutual funds in the U.S.), investment trusts (similar to closed end funds), ISAs (a new government-created savings vehicle similar to a Roth IRA), and PEPs (a government- created savings vehicle which is no longer permitted to be offered, replaced this year by ISAs).
Johnson Fry's chief executive officer, Rebecca Thomas, and its chief financial officer, Catherine Toman, have signed long-term employment agreements with Legg Mason pending the acquisition.
"Expanding our distribution into overseas channels has been a priority for Legg Mason for quite awhile,"
Elisabeth Spector,
senior vice president, Legg Mason, told the MFWire.com. "We've been stressing in annual reports and statements for years that this would be a major part of our future strategy, together with expanding our high-net-worth business."
In September, Legg Mason announced the intent to buy
Berkshire Asset Management, the $600 million separate accounts manager, adding to the $6 billion in the high-net-worth market that Legg Mason already runs through regional asset managers in Cincinnati and New York.
Although Johnson Fry is the first overseas retail money manager that Legg Mason has acquired, the company acquired the former Lehman Global, now Western Global in 1996.
Spector told the MFWire.com that, although the company has no further specific alliance plans for the near future, it would continue to look at opportunities along the "401(k) trail" in the UK, Europe, and Asia.
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