London Hedge Fund Lansdowne Partners to Exit Morgan Stanley’s Portfolio
According to people familiar with the matter, a leading investment firm Morgan Stanley is planning to sell its 19 percent stake in the $17.5 billion London-based hedge fund Lansdowne Partners LLP.
The
attempted sale adds Morgan Stanley to a wave of banks including J.P.
Morgan Chase & Co. that bought into hedge funds before the financial
crisis and have been backing away because of regulatory pressure to
simplify their businesses. New limits on ownership of relatively risky
assets have played a role as well, in some cases.
Morgan
Stanley bankers have narrowed the list of potential buyers after
earlier approaching a larger group to determine their level of interest
in a piece of the hedge-fund firm, said people familiar with the matter.
The smaller group includes Boston firm Affiliated Managers Group Inc. ;
Foundation Capital Partners, of Greenwich, Conn.; and Neuberger
Berman’s Dyal Capital, some of the people said.
One
person estimated the stake could be worth as much as several hundred
million dollars. UBS AG is advising Lansdowne, which bets on and against
stocks and is one of Europe’s larger hedge-fund firms. It isn’t clear
whether any deal will materialize. The Lansdowne stake doesn’t give
Morgan Stanley a seat on the firm’s board or management committee,
according to a regulatory filing.
Source: Wall Street Journal
