UK's River and Mercantile rejects new approach for pensions business

2026 Corporate Holdings

01/12/2021 15:17

Dec 1 (Reuters) - British fund manager River and Mercantile
Group (R&M)  RIV.L  said on Wednesday it had rejected an
informal takeover approach from a blank-check company for its
pensions business that it had agreed to sell to Schroders
 SDR.L .
    Special-purpose acquisition company Disruptive Capital
Acquisition Company (DCAC)  DCACS.AS  said earlier in the day it
had proposed to buy R&M's pensions business at a "higher value"
than Schroders's 230 million pounds ($307 million) offer. 
    R&M had in October agreed to sell to Schroders the business
that manages assets worth 42 billion pounds and serves more than
100 clients, mainly trustees of pension schemes.
    The move by R&M, itself a takeover target, was aimed at
focusing on its mainstay asset management business.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2RM24R
    R&M said on Wednesday it continued to back Schroders' offer
and that it saw "material uncertainty" around the value and form
of DCAC's proposal, as well as the availability and sources of
financing.
    Schroders and DCAC did not immediately respond to requests
for comment.
    R&M said last week it had received preliminary approaches
for a possible buyout from rivals Premier Miton Group  PMIP.L 
and AssetCo  ASTO.L . 
    Any potential deal was conditional on R&M completing the
sale of its pensions business, it had said.

($1 = 0.7500 pounds)

 (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Sachin Ravikumar in
Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
 ((abyjose.koilparambil@thomsonreuters.com; +919986528692;))