The former global head at Aberdeen Standard Investments has been appointed chief executive of the recently-acquired River and Mercantile Group (RMG).
Alex Hoctor-Duncan will lead the "refocused" group, which was acquired last month by Martin Gilbert's AssetCo for £98.8m. He is replacing the outgoing chief executive James Barham who is leaving to join Schroder's.
The deal values each share of RMG at 114.6 pence, based on the closing price of 1,550 pence per AssetCo share on 24 January.
The terms are contingent on the previously agreed sale of RMG's fiduciary business to Schroders for £230m, which was agreed in October. It will see shareholders receive £190m in cash - taking the value of the entire deal to £289m.
Current RMG investors will receive 0.073 AssetCo shares for each RMG share they hold.
Following completion, RMG shareholders will own approximately 41.6% of the combined group. The merger is expected to complete in the second quarter of this year.
AssetCo is planning that RMG, together with its existing active equity manager Saracen, will form the foundation for its active equity fund business, leveraging the investment expertise of both businesses.
It is intended that RMG's new sustainable infrastructure investment strategy will form the first building block in the combined group's private markets capabilities.
RMG currently has £49.9bn worth of assets under management for clients investing in UK, European and global equities.
It is the “largest and most significant deal” secured by AssetCo in its first year since Gilbert put a new team in place.
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