Mixed responses to F&C/TR deal

F&C's high profile acquisition of Thames River Capital has received mixed reactions from financial analysts, amid market noise Thames River was sold short.

Standard & Poor’s has warned the £53.6m acquisition puts pressure on F&C’s balance sheet. It is monitoring the group’s BBB-/A-3 rating with a view to downgrading it. Analyst David Tate says: “In our opinion, F&C is relatively highly leveraged, with negative tangible equity and interest coverage by EBITDA of about 3.9 times for 2009, representing a lower level of debt serviceability compared to that of similarly rated asset managers.” However, Sarah Ing of Singer Capital Management says the deal is positive for F&C. “F&C has proved itself to be able to acquire an entrepreneurial bus...