AssetCo announces deal to buy Ocean Dial Asset Management for £4.1m

AssetCo, Martin Gilbert’s acquisition vehicle, has agreed to buy Ocean Dial Asset Management, marking the latest acquisition in his ever-expanding empire.

The firm said it would buy the asset manager for £4.1 million from its current owner, London-based Avendus Capital Asset Management.

Launched in 2005, Ocean Dial currently manages the India Capital Growth Fund, which has a net asset value of over £127m and an annual turnover of £1.4m as of February.

According to its website the fund’s portfolio focuses primarily on small and mid-cap stocksand about a quarter of its holdings are in the financial services sector.

Investment is also concentrated in the industrial, basic materials and consumer durables sectors.

To honor the deal, AssetCo will pay £2.13 million in cash and acquire more than 2.9 million shares worth 1 pence each, with £500,000 and 732,065 shares of this amount deferred until next year.

Approval for the transaction is required from the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the Indian Reserve Bank and Securities Exchange Board.

Once completed, AssetCo will integrate Ocean Dial into its River and Mercantile brand, along with other active asset managers including SVM Asset Management, Saracen Fund Managers and Revera.

The three companies have been bought by AssetCo in the past two years for a combined £16.3 million, as part of Mr Gilbert’s efforts to create a prominent new UK player in wealth and asset management.

The Edinburgh-based group, which previously leased fire engines and ambulance vehicles to the emergency services, has also built stakes in Parmenion Capital Partners and Rize ETF, a provider of exchange-traded funds.

City grandmaster Gilbert said the firm’s mission is to acquire, improve and grow wealth management companies with potential.

He added: “We are excited about the long-term potential India offers and see opportunities to add value by bringing Ocean Dial together with the other active asset management businesses that we combine under the River and Mercantile brands.”

Gilbert became AssetCo’s chairman two years ago, shortly after buying a major stake in the cash shell as part of a consortium made up of Toscafund Asset Management and longtime colleague Peter McKellar.

Prior to that, he co-founded and over three decades led Aberdeen Asset Management and its successor Standard Life Aberdeen, which was renamed Abrdn in July 2021.

AssetCo’s latest acquisition announcement comes a few weeks after it stated it had fallen to a loss of £9.3m for the 12 months ended September, partly due to costs related to acquisitions.

AssetCo Shares were 0.7 percent higher at 68.5 pence late Monday afternoon, though their value has fallen by more than half over the past 12 months.