AssetCo to sell stake in River and Mercantile's infrastructure business
Chair Martin Gilbert (pictured) said the sale delivers a «much-simplified» group.
In a stock exchange notice today (6 October), the company said the partners of RMI will continue managing and operating the business outside the AssetCo Group, with the sale expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
RMI's primary activity is as investment adviser to the River and Mercantile Infrastructure Income fund, which was launched and made its first investments in 2022.
Infrastructure equity capabilities 'jewel' in River and Mercantile crown
Ian Berry joined River and Mercantile to lead the firm's infrastructure business in January 2021 after more than a decade at Aviva Investors and brought two colleagues with him to establish the business — Allan Vlah and Fergus Helliwell.
In January 2022, AssetCo deputy chair Peter McKellar said River and Mercantile's infrastructure division was the «jewel» of the business.
Martin Gilbert, executive chair of AssetCo, said: «We are pleased to have reached agreement with Ian and his team for them to take the business of RMI out of the AssetCo Group. This will allow that team to re-shape the RMI business to focus on delivering the best outcome for the fund's clients while leaving AssetCo to focus on building its active equities business.
»In doing so, we are looking to capitalise on the recent acquisition of Ocean Dial Asset Management and bringing this together with our other active equities businesses under the River & Mercantile banner."
AssetCo completes £4.1m acquisition of Ocean Dial Asset Management
The chair said the operations of its three legacy Scottish businesses have now been «fully amalgamated into a single unit», pending further integration with River and Mercantile
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