The settlement takes place in two stages: the sale of 26.61% of the capital which took place today, then, within four years and at the latest in six years, subject to the required regulatory authorizations, the sale of 23.4% residuals.
Following the strategic orientations decided in November 2020, Natixis Investment Managers and H2O Asset Management announce the entry into force of their agreement relating to the sale of the* of Natixis Investment Managers in the H2O Asset Management group.
The settlement takes place in two stages: the sale of 26.61% of the capital which took place today, then, within four years and at the latest in six years, subject to the required regulatory authorizations, the sale of 23.4% residuals.
On this occasion, H2O AM is strengthening its governance with the establishment of Supervisory Boards composed of a majority of independent members.
Following this transaction, Natixis IM will no longer have a director position within the H2O AM group. The structure of H2O AM is reinforced to succeed in this new stage of its development with:
- renewed governance: H2O AM announces the establishment of Supervisory Boards with a majority of independent members for all of the European management companies of the H2O AM group. The chairmen of these Boards will be chosen from among the independent members. The Global Executive Committee will be responsible for coordinating activity at the level of the H2O AM group. In addition, H2O AM, in coordination with a leading international consulting firm, has developed its organization strengthening its governance in all functions, Management, Operations and Control (Risk & Compliance);
- a new generation of shareholders: employees enter the capital of H2O AM while others strengthen themselves, without however modifying the share of capital held by the two founders. The number of employee shareholders thus increases to 40, ie more than half of the company’s workforce, confirming the commitment of the teams;
- strengthened financial reserves: the H2O AM group is increasing the financial reserves at its disposal.
Finally, H2O AM is finalizing the reinternalisation of distribution activities within H2O AM.
The agreement concluded between Natixis IM and H2O AM ratifies the takeover, as of March 31, 2022, of distribution activities by the management company, largely completed during 2021. H2O AM’s investor relations team, strengthened in recent months, assumes fully the distribution, communication, customer service and marketing activities of the management company.
H2O AM is entering its new phase of development by focusing on its range of funds, in particular Global Macro, for which the management team has been recognized for nearly 30 years for its ability to offer performance and diversification across investment horizons.
