Australian financial giant Macquarie is considering a bid worth more than 5 billion pounds (5.6 billion euro) for UK-headquartered fund manager and insurer M&G, which runs its non-UK European business from Luxembourg.
The Australian firm, which operates in 34 markets worldwide, already is present in the grand duchy since 2018, when its investment management division acquired Luxembourg-based ValueInvest Asset Management SA. The firm has since been renamed Macquarie Investment Management Europe SA and managed some 6.9 billion euro in assets at the end of March 2022.
M&G’s Luxembourg-based business manages approximately 90 billion euro, which is roughly a quarter of the group’s total.
The bid was reported on Wednesday by Sky News. The British tv-channel said it has learned that Macquarie, listed on the Sydney stock exchange, is “at the early stages of exploring an approach”.
Macquarie declined to comment on the report, as did M&G. In Thursday trading on the London Stock Exchange, M&G shares were up 0.9 percent. They have gained 11.6 percent during the last five trading days. Macquarie shares in Sydney closed Thursday’s session with a loss of 2.1 percent.
If a formal bid were to emerge, it would bring to an end years of takeover speculation surrounding M&G, the former UK arm of Prudential.