Financial giant Macquarie sold for $1.8 billion. New owners plan to beef up Philly headquarters near the Liberty Bell.
The sale makes Philadelphia a global investing hub for Japan-based Nomura at its headquarters on Independence Mall.
Nomura, one of Japan’s largest investment companies, says Philadelphia will be the “hub” of its newly expanded international stock and bond funds business.
On Tuesday, Nomura announced it had agreed to pay $1.8 billion for Australia-based Macquarie’s U.S. investment management company and two smaller European affiliates, which manage stocks and bonds worth $180 billion for individual investors, insurance companies, and other institutions.
Macquarie, based in Philadelphia, with other major offices in Kansas City, Vienna, and Luxembourg, employs more than 700 stock-pickers, bond-watchers, analysts, and other professionals.
These “stable,” high-profit businesses “will be transformational” for Nomura’s plans to grow beyond Japan, beef up its U.S. assets, and expand the company’s capacity to sell private and publicly traded investments, Kentaro Okuda, Nomura’s president, said in a statement.
The Philadelphia deal is “a significant step” in expanding worldwide, said Chris Willcox, chairman of Nomura’s investment management arm.
The deal will leave Macquarie focused on its native Australia, where its rivals include a well-established affiliate of Malvern-based Vanguard Group.
Nomura, which manages nearly $600 billion in other investments, plans to keep Macquarie, its Center City offices, and its management team, headed by president Shawn Lytle, stock investments director John Pickard, bond manager Greg Gizzi, and U.S. wealth head Millissa Hutchinson. Nomura will give them added responsibilities for expanding its multinational product development and sales.
Nomura also said it would invest in growing the Philadelphia-based businesses. That will include setting aside money to buy private companies for “alternative investment” funds, expanding the actively managed exchange-traded funds group Macquarie started two years ago, and adding staff and technology to boost sales of its funds and other Nomura products.
“Nomura always has their eye on expansion. They have been looking at U.S. assets for a long time,” said William Uchimoto, a Berwyn-based lawyer who represents Japan- and China-based investors, including bank-controlled private asset funds.
He said Japan’s banks work closely with one another, so the deal is likely to boost sales of Philadelphia-based products to other investors in that country while also seeking new clients in Europe and North America.
Macquarie set up shop in Philadelphia in 2010 when it bought the former Delaware Investments from Radnor-based Lincoln National Corp. for $428 million.
Macquarie dropped the Delaware corporate name in 2017 but kept it on some of the company’s products.
Nomura plans to rebrand Macquarie’s products with its own name after the sale, which is scheduled for late this year.