March 24 (Reuters) – Janus Henderson said on Tuesday that Trian and General Catalyst have raised their bid to buy the $493-billion asset manager to $52 per share, as it fends off a persistent takeover pursuit by Victory Capital.
The new offer, which represents a 25% premium to Janus’ unaffected stock price and is $3 per share higher than the previous bid, comes amid a high-stakes battle with Victory Capital, which has maintained its pursuit of the company despite being spurned earlier.
The all-cash offer is valued at about $8 billion, according to Reuters calculations, compared with Victory’s $8.6 billion cash-and-stock bid.
The asset manager said the deal with Trian and General Catalyst is the only proposal its special committee has determined to be capable of being completed.
Trian, Janus’ largest shareholder with a 20.7% stake, had on Friday raised concerns about Victory’s latest offer. Victory on Monday fired back at Trian, saying the company was making “efforts to blanket market with misinformation.”
Janus shares rose 2.8% in premarket trading on the news, while Victory Capital was up 1.8%.
BUYOUT FIGHT HEATS UP
The bidding war for the asset manager underscores the pace of consolidation sweeping the industry shaped by fee pressure and the rise of low-cost passive investing, prompting firms to scale up through deals to stay competitive.
Last week, Victory had revised its offer to include a higher cash component. Its latest offer was $40 in cash and 0.25 of its shares for each Janus share, compared with an earlier proposal of $30 in cash and 0.35 of its shares.
In December, Janus had agreed to a buyout by Trian and General Catalyst after a five-year push by Trian’s founding partner Nelson Peltz that began as an activist campaign.
“Trian and General Catalyst have already made significant progress toward closing and have a clear path to satisfying all outstanding conditions,” Janus said on Tuesday.
Victory did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment on the new offer by Trian and General Catalyst.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
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