Aberdeen Asset Management has announced plans to acquire a US-private equity specialist that will boost its focus on the US.
The Aberdeen investment giant has snapped up Flag Capital Management in an all shares deal although the value remains undisclosed.
The move marks the first acquisition since Aberdeen snapped up Swip, the fund management businesses of Lloyds Banking Group, in a deal worth about £550million in 2013.
The firm’s chief executive Martin Gilbert recently stated that the firm has not been looking for mega-deals like the Swip takeover but instead was interested in smaller deals.
The US firm was founded in 1994 and has offices in Connecticut and Boston as well as Hong Kong.
Flag managed assets of approximately £4billion as of the end of 2014 and will be integrated into Aberdeen’s private markets capability.
Aberdeen said the deal brings in its fold Flag’s established presence across the institutional and high-net-worth client segments in the US, increasing Aberdeen’s footprint among family offices, endowments and public and corporate pension plans.
Mr Gilbert said: This transaction is in line with Aberdeen’s strategy of undertaking clear value-added acquisitions that will assist with accelerating business growth in this area.
“Flag meets this objective in two ways. Initially, it strengthens further our private market capability by bringing additional Asian expertise and new US resource. “Secondly, Flag deepens and expands our US client base, which is a key growth market for Aberdeen.”