AAM tops pile after Credit Suisse takeover

Published on 01/07/2009 21:15

ABERDEEN Asset Management (AAM) has become the largest independent fund manager in Britain, after completing the acquisition of Credit Suisse's business, writes Hamish Rutherford.

Yesterday marked the second and final closing of the deal, giving AAM a further 29.1 billion in assets under management and adding 120 staff across seven European cities.

Following the deal AAM said it now had 133.2 billion in assets under management, taking it clear of Schroders, which had just over 103bn under management at the end of March.

The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions for AAM, and finance director Bill Rattray said it was prepared to consider further deals.

Rattray commented: "We're quite happy to look at opportunities as they arise.

"We don't have any specific shopping list... We'll look at opportunities that are brought to us and take a view as to whether they're sensible, and if they're suitably (earnings] accretive, we'll consider them."

AAM is believed to view the current depressed valuations of fund management assets as a strong opportunity to expand through acquisition.

The company is understood to be considering a bid for Delaware Investments, which manages around $110 billion in assets. AAM chief executive Martin Gilbert has also hinted at possible interest for Insight, a fund management business which was part of HBoS.