- Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) recently announced an agreement to buy NN Investment Partners for approximately €1.6 billion. These are the details.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS) recently announced that it has entered into an agreement to buy NN Investment Partners from NN Group N.V. for approximately €1.6 billion. And the deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory and other approvals and conditions.
NN Investment Partners is known as a leading European asset manager based in The Hague, Netherlands with approximately $355 billion in assets under the supervision and approximately $70 billion in assets under advice. Plus NN Investment Partners offers a wide range of equity and fixed income products with a strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration across its business. And NN Investment Partners is a top-ranked ESG manager in Europe and 75% of its assets under supervision are ESG integrated.
With a heritage going back nearly 175 years, NN Investment Partners employs over 900 professionals in 15 countries and combines the use of data and technology with fundamental analysis in its investment processes. And NN Investment Partners’ employees will join Goldman Sachs Asset Management following the closing of the transaction with the Netherlands becoming a significant location in our European business.
Goldman Sachs believes that NN Investment Partners’ expertise will strengthen their fund management and distribution platform across retail and institutional channels in Europe and support them in delivering long-term value to clients. And NN Investment Partners is highly complementary to Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s existing European footprint and will add new capabilities and accelerate growth in products like European equity and investment-grade credit, sustainable and impact equity, and green bonds.
Goldman Sachs has about $2.3 trillion in assets under supervision globally and this transaction will bring assets under supervision in Europe to over $600 billion, aligning with the firm’s strategic objectives to scale its European business and extend its global reach. And as part of the agreement, Goldman Sachs Asset Management will enter into a long-term strategic partnership agreement with NN Group to manage about a $190 billion portfolio of assets, reflecting the strength of the business’ global insurance asset management capabilities and alternatives franchise.
This partnership will establish the firm as the largest non-affiliated insurance asset manager globally with over $550 billion in assets under supervision. And the acquisition will provide a foundation for further growth in the firm’s European fiduciary management business, building on the success of its platform in the United States and the United Kingdom.
KEY QUOTES:
“This acquisition allows us to accelerate our growth strategy and broaden our asset management platform. NN Investment Partners offers a leading European client franchise and an extension of our strength in insurance asset management. Across NN Investment Partners’ offerings they have been successful in integrating sustainability which mirrors our own level of ambition to put responsible investing and stewardship at the heart of our business. We look forward to partnering with the team at NN Investment Partners as we focus on delivering long-term value to our clients and our shareholders.”
– David Solomon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs
“NN Group and NN Investment Partners have a longstanding and successful shared history. We value this strong and constructive relationship that we have and we look forward to further building on it in a new form. This transaction brings together two international asset managers, each with many decades of investment experience. We have found a strong and professional partner in Goldman Sachs, providing an environment in which our NN Investment Partners colleagues can continue to thrive, while the combined investment expertise and scale will enhance the service offering to NN Investment Partners’ clients, including NN Group. This transaction will also give NN Group greater optionality to develop a broader range of asset management propositions for our customers. Our approach and ambitions around ESG will remain unchanged and Goldman Sachs shares our commitment to responsible investing. On behalf of the Management Board of NN Group, I would like to thank our colleagues at NN Investment Partners for their drive, commitment and continuing focus on clients.”
– David Knibbe, Chief Executive Officer of NN Group
