Chris Donahue and Tom Faust may be competing for the same acquisition across the pond, and they're not the only ones.

Faust's Eaton Vance [profile] and Donahue's Federated [profile] are two of the four rumored bidders for British asset manager Hermes Investment Management, according to reports from Financial News, Reuters, and Sky News. The other two bidders, named by the publication's unnamed sources, are Old Mutual Asset Management, a U.S.-based, multi-boutique, institutional asset manager, and Challenger, an Australian asset manager. Hermes is owned by the pension fund of BT Group (a British telecoms giant).

Spokespeople for Challenger, Eaton Vance, and OMAM did not comment to the three publications. A Hermes spokeswoman declined to comment to Sky on "rumor and speculation." A Federated spokesman told FN that the Pittsburgh-based, publicly-traded mutual fund shop "continuously seeks alliances."

"But it is our policy not to comment on rumor," the Federated spokesman added.

None of the reports mention possible pricing for Hermes, which has 30.8 billion pounds ($41.2 billion) in AUM and 317.1 billion pounds ($424.12 billion) in assets under advisement, up 8.1 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively, since December 31, 2016. In 2016, according to Hermes' latest annual report, the asset manager brought in 104 million pounds ($139.21 million) in revenue and 10.5 million pounds ($14.06 million) in "statutory profit."

Fenchurch Advisory Partners is advising Hermes on the deal, FN and Sky report. The BT Pension Scheme is being advised by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Sky reports, and Hermes CEO Saker Nusseibeh "is thought to be playing a leading role in the discussions." Both British publications anticipate that BT may keep a stake in Hermes as part of any deal. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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