Janus Capital Group has
“We are honored to partner with one of Japan’s financial services leaders and are very excited by this opportunity,” stated Janus Chief Executive Officer Richard M. Weil. “Dai-ichi Life has a 110-year history of client service excellence, and our alliance represents a substantial leap forward in the development of our business in the Asia-Pacific region.”
According to a
to acquire at least 15%, and no more than 20%, of Janus’s outstanding common shares through open market purchases and potentially through the exercise of conditional options issued to Dai-ichi Life by Janus.
As part of this alliance, Dai-ichi Life will support Janus’s distribution initiatives in Japan and plans to invest $2 billion of its general account assets with the firm, including seed capital for Janus investment strategies. Following Dai-ichi Life’s accumulation of at least 15% of the American firm’s common shares outstanding, it is expected that an individual designated by Dai-ichi Life will be appointed to Janus’s Board of Directors.
Out of that money, at least $120 million will be used as seed capital for Janus investment strategies.
“Janus is a powerful franchise in the largest asset management market in the world,” stated Hideto Masaki, Representative Director and Deputy President of Dai-ichi Life. “We are confident in Janus’ quality and leadership, and we are very pleased to acquire a substantial stake in the future growth of the firm at a level that we believe offers significant upside.”
As part of the agreement, Janus sold Dai-ichi Life a series of conditional options to purchase, in aggregate, up to 14,000,000 shares of Janus’s common stock. In the event that all or a portion of the conditional options are exercised, Janus intends to use the proceeds to repurchase Janus common shares to offset resulting dilution. The repurchase of common shares will be at Janus’s discretion, subject to market and business conditions.
