Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have won top roles on the creation of new asset manager Janus Henderson Global Investors.
The company, valued at $6bn (£4.7bn), will be formed in the second quarter of 2017 following the merger of Henderson Group and Janus Capital.
London-listed Henderson turned to Freshfields for advice, with a team led by corporate head Simon Marchant and partner Oliver Lazenby.
The City duo were supported by New York partners Peter Lyons, Matthew Herman and Paul Tropp, as well as London regulatory partner David Rouch.
Skadden took the lead for Henderson Group’s merger partner Janus Capital, headquartered in Denver. After the tie-up, the CEOs of both Janus and Henderson will be based in the latter’s London headquarters.
Skadden London head Michael Hatchard and M&A partner Scott Hopkins led for New York-listed Janus, alongside New York partners Ralph Arditi and David Hepp.
As a result of the merger, the new company will hold assets under management of over $320bn (£249bn).
Henderson will cancel its listing on the LSE, while Janus Henderson Global Investors instead applies to trade on the NYSE and retain Henderson’s listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Background to the deal
Henderson’s UK in-house legal team shrunk nearly 30 per cent in 2013 after it farmed out more of its lower-level work to law firms. It uses firms such as Nabarro on property deals, although Freshfields is historically its main adviser on corporate matters. Slaughter and May won the mandate for Henderson when Freshfields acted for Henderson’s acquisition target Gartmore in 2012.
Meanwhile Skadden’s New York office is a regular adviser to Janus Capital, with co-head of tax Stuart Finkelstein acting on multiple matters for the asset manager. Janus Capital’s legal team is led by former Mayer Brown partner David Grawemeyer in the US, who replaced Kelley Howes in 2011 after her departure to Morrison & Foerster.
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