Janus Henderson, a global active asset manager, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Victory Park Capital Advisors (VPC), a global private credit manager with a nearly two decade-long track record of providing customized private credit solutions to both established and emerging businesses.
This partnership aims to enable mutually beneficial growth opportunities. Janus Henderson expects VPC’s long-standing partnerships with global institutional clients, including insurance companies, pensions, endowments and sovereign wealth funds will enhance its position in the global institutional market. In addition, the company hopes VPC’s investment capabilities tailored to insurance companies will expand its product offering for the company’s growing insurance clientele. Janus Henderson aims to support the distribution and development of VPC products globally.
This acquisition follows Janus Henderson’s recent announcement that it will acquire the National Bank of Kuwait’s emerging markets private investments team, NBK Capital Partners, which is expected to close later this year.
“As we continue to execute on our client-led strategic vision, we are pleased to expand Janus Henderson’s private credit capabilities further with Victory Park Capital,” Ali Dibadj, CEO of Janus Henderson, said. “Asset-backed lending has emerged as a significant market opportunity within private credit, as clients increasingly look to diversify their private credit exposure beyond only direct lending. VPC’s investment capabilities in private credit and deep expertise in insurance align with the growing needs of our clients, further our strategic objective to diversify where we have the right and amplify our existing strengths in securitized finance. We believe this acquisition will enable us to continue to deliver for our clients, employees and shareholders.”
“We are excited to partner with Janus Henderson in VPC’s next phase of growth,” Richard Levy, CEO, chief investment officer and founder of VPC, said. “This partnership is a testament to the strength of our established brand in private credit and differentiated expertise, and we believe it will enable us to scale faster, diversify our product offering, expand our distribution and geographic reach, and bolster our proprietary origination channels.”
“As a leading active asset manager with a diverse, global presence, Janus Henderson is an ideal partner to support our high-caliber team and VPC’s continued expansion,” Brendan Carroll, senior partner and co-founder of VPC, said. “We have known the Janus Henderson leadership team for many years and believe our organizations are aligned in our client-first mentality, commitment to disciplined investing and shared values. This partnership creates tremendous value for clients through accelerated product development and cross-selling opportunities. We look forward to building on VPC’s successful track record together with Janus Henderson to continue to deliver differentiated private credit solutions for current and prospective investors and portfolio companies.”
The acquisition consideration comprises a mix of cash and shares of Janus Henderson common stock and is expected to be neutral-to-accretive to earnings per share in 2025. The acquisition is expected to close in Q4/24 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Ardea Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to VPC. Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal counsel to VPC and Sheppard Mullin acted as legal counsel to Janus Henderson.
