Legg Mason acquires $7.6bn infrastructure fund group

Legg Mason has agreed to acquire a majority interest in Australian global listed infrastructure business RARE Infrastructure for a total consideration of up to £94m.

The firm, which has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, London and Chicago, manages $7.6bn for institutional and retail clients. Legg Mason will take a 75% ownership stake, with RARE’s management team retaining a 15% stake and previous minority owner The Treasury Group holding 10%. RARE will become one of the US asset manager’s independent investment affiliates, joining the likes of Brandywine and Martin Currie. The deal is expected to close in Q4 2015. Legg Mason CEO Joe Sullivan said: “The market for infrastructure investing has grown significantly over the past few years and RARE...