Privately held US investment firm Stephens is to acquire a 20% stake in boutique asset manager Crux Asset Management, subject to regulatory approvals.
The minority ownership will be held via a wholly owned subsidiary, with new ordinary shares issued to support the deal. Financial details were not disclosed.
Set up in 2014, Crux has £1.7bn of assets under management. Its three core equity teams focus on Europe, the UK and Asia.
See also: Crux taps Martin Currie for deputy manager in Ewan Markson-Brown’s Asia team
John Stephens, senior vice president of affiliate firm Stephens Inc, will join the Crux board as a non-executive director once the deal is signed off by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Based in Little Rock, Arkansas, Stephens is described as having a strong focus on family investments, private equity, asset management, investment banking, wealth management, public finance and insurance brokerage.
Founded in 1933, it has a presence in a host of US cities across the eastern seaboard and southern states, plus an office in San Francisco, London and Frankfurt.
Crux AM chief executive Karen Zachary (pictured) said: “Over the last five years, we have built a scalable platform at Crux that has enabled us to expand our investment offering into Asia and the UK with complementary strategies that fit our plans to build a diversified range of active management strategies.”
She added: “This new relationship strengthens our capital base and enables us to build out and grow our recently acquired UK and Asia strategies, and expand our distribution, widening access to our already well-established European strategy.”
See also: Crux launches ‘patient’ fund for Richard Penny
John Stephens said: “We are excited to make an investment in Crux Asset Management which, in our view, is comprised of extremely talented individuals who come together to create a cohesive and exciting team with a bright future.
“We are looking forward to working with Karen and others in helping the business achieve its goal of becoming a leading, independent asset manager and the platform of choice for high-quality PMs with a passion for what they do.”
