US private equity group Searchlight Capital has acquired specialist asset manager Gresham House for £470 mln (€547 mln).
The all cash deal closed at £11.05 per share, a 63% premium on Gresham's closing price on Friday.
Gresham House manages £8 bn of assets, of which nearly £7 bn is real assets or private equity, including important forestry and venture capital trust businesses. It also invests in renewable energy technology.
Anthony Townsend, chair of Gresham House, said: 'We are confident that Searchlight will accelerate our international and
domestic growth strategy.'
Searchlight said it would take Gresham House private by delisting the firm from the AIM exchange in the eventuality that its 'shares underperformed management expectations'.
