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Janus Henderson received a tender offer from Nelson Peltz’s hedge fund. It’s been five years since the activist investor first disclosed his stake in the US asset manager.
Trian Fund Management, in partnership with General Catalyst, offered Janus Henderson $46 in cash per share, valuing the company at $7 billion. Shares soared more than 16% in New York on Monday.
Tryon and its associates already have an interest in about one-fifth of Janus Henderson’s stock. Peltz and General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja said in a letter that the agreement “de-risks investments that we believe are highly sensitive to capital markets and geopolitical dynamics.”
The offering price was a 56% premium to the stock price in April, when market conditions were less favorable.
Peltz and Taneja said Janus Henderson has growth opportunities but is best positioned to be “free from the constraints of operating as a public company.”
General Catalyst is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital group focused on applying AI to transform industries and raised $8 billion last October.
The offer comes as flows at Janus Henderson, which has $457 billion in assets, have improved in recent quarters. The company is forming new partnerships and raising capital into actively managed exchange-traded funds.
The U.S. group has been plagued by internal dissent following the merger of Denver-based Janus Capital and London-based Henderson Group, and has struggled to compete after low-cost passive fund managers took market share.
Trian first disclosed its investment in Janus Henderson in October 2020, when the stock price was about half its current level. Mr. Peltz was appointed to Janus Henderson’s board in 2022 and was instrumental in the appointment of Chief Executive Officer Ali Dibaj later that year.
Janus Henderson said the board will appoint a special committee to consider the proposal submitted Oct. 26. He added that there was “no guarantee” that an agreement would be reached.
Mr. Peltz has a track record of targeting mid-sized asset management companies. As an investor in Legg Mason, Tryon helped guide the U.S. investment firm toward a deal with rival Franklin Templeton in 2020. The deal created a massive $1.5 trillion fund.
Additional reporting by Costas Mourselas
