FRANKFURT (Reuters) -British fund manager Premier Miton had net inflows of 830 million pounds ($1.10 billion) for the year ending in September and will propose a total dividend hike of 43% to 10 pence for the year, the company said on Tuesday.
Last month, British fund manager River and Mercantile Group said it had received preliminary approaches for a possible buyout from rivals Premier Miton Group and AssetCo Plc.
Asset managers have been benefiting from higher asset prices and an increased interest in investment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Premier Miton said it had assets under management of 14 billion pounds at the end of October this year.
The company’s chief executive Mike O’Shea told Reuters the potential purchase of River and Mercantile would enable Premier Miton to increase its target AUM to 25 billion pounds and to offer funds in a wider range of sectors.
“When we look at acquisitions, we are looking for things that do diversify our product range,” he said.
“River and Mercantile have expertise in emerging markets, they have some very good mid-cap investment expertise.”
He declined to name the amount Premier Miton was willing to pay for River and Mercantile.
Premier Miton has until Dec. 21 to make a formal offer.
Premier Miton’s adjusted profit before tax rose 28% to 28.6 million pounds. Its shares were down 1.4%.
($1 = 0.7532 pounds)
(Reporting By John O’Donnell and Carolyn Cohn;Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
