What a Tech-Fueled Takeover of Janus Henderson Might Mean

Someone’s Trian to buy Janus Henderson.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz’s hedge fund company Trian Partners is seeking to buy up the 80% of outstanding shares of Janus Henderson that it doesn’t already control and take the asset manager private. Last week the company, along with venture capital firm General Catalyst, submitted an offer to pay a roughly 12% premium on the shares. It’s unclear if Janus Henderson will accept the offer, though the firm’s board assembled a committee to contemplate the proposal. For now, the company isn’t saying much beyond that. If Janus does accept a go-private deal, it would further shake up a business that has gone through considerable changes in the past decade.

“Trian’s $7 billion bid for Janus Henderson marks a shift from activism to acquisition — and could spur more M&A,” said Cindy Zarker, relationship manager at Fuse Research Network. “However, Janus Henderson being taken private by an external investor like Trian/General Catalyst is fundamentally different from a strategic acquisition by another asset manager or a company’s founder(s) or employees buying itself back.”

Tech’s Tack

On its own, General Catalyst’s interest in Janus Henderson would turn some heads. The VC firm invests heavily in fintech, and artificial intelligence is a theme across its holdings (among numerous companies in its portfolio is Anthorpic, for example). But what may be General Catalyst’s biggest, most publicized (and scrutinized) project is buying a hospital. It is in the process of acquiring Ohio-based Summa Health, with the intention of overhauling it by infusing AI into operations across the healthcare system. Trian’s partnership with General Catalyst “suggests a plan to modernize Janus Henderson’s platform through digital transformation/fintech integration,” Zarker noted.

Janus Henderson already has a relationship with Trian:

• Janus Capital Group, founded in Denver in 1969, merged with 1934-founded Henderson Group in 2017, with the resulting company’s headquarters based in London.
• Trian disclosed its holdings in Janus Henderson in 2020, and under pressure from Peltz, then-CEO Dick Weil stepped down in 2022, being replaced by Trian-supported and current CEO Ali Dibadj, who was previously CFO at AllianceBernstein.
• Activism at an asset manager isn’t new for Peltz, who had two stints on Legg Mason’s board starting in 2009, before selling his stake in the company ahead of Franklin Templeton’s purchase of that firm.

Is There an Upside? Peltz has characterized the private-ownership offer as necessary to help “derisk” Janus Henderson. Still, he hasn’t always gotten what he wanted. Last year, amid a proxy fight with Disney’s board, the Trian CEO criticized the House of Mouse for Marvel movies that featured predominantly Black or women casts, in an interview with the Financial Times. After failing to win seats on the board, he reportedly sold his stake in the company but walked away with about $1 billion in gains. One of his favored phrases at the office, according to The Wall Street Journal: “I’d rather be rich than right.”