Janus Capital Group To Buy Parent Of ETF Provider VelocityShares

(RTTNews) - Janus Capital Group Inc. (JNS), which recently hired bond manager Pacific Investment Management Co. or Pimco's William Gross, said Monday that it has agreed to acquire VS Holdings Inc., the parent company of VelocityShares, LLC.

VelocityShares is a provider of institutionally-focused exchange-traded products or ETPs, including exchange-traded funds that deliver sophisticated volatility management solutions. The acquisition will boost Janus Capital's presence in exchange-traded products.

Under the deal, Janus will pay an initial upfront cash consideration of $30 million. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Richard Weil, Chief Executive Officer of Janus Capital Group said, "This acquisition positions Janus within the rapidly growing rules-based and active ETF universe, enhancing the customized solutions we can provide to our clients and enabling us to work with the growing segment of financial advisors and institutions focused on these instruments."

VelocityShares was founded in 2009 and is managed by Nick Cherney, Richard Hoge and Steve Quinn. The company is focused on developing instruments that enable investors to manage risk and has delivered products for a wide range of global investors since its launch in 2009.

More recently, VelocityShares has leveraged its expertise to launch a second business around innovative and intelligent exchange-traded funds or ETFs for diversified long-term investment portfolios, currently focused on volatility hedged equities and equal risk weighted solutions.

Janus Capital noted that these ETF offerings, along with future product innovation, offer significant synergies between VelocityShares and the company.

VelocityShares employs 11 professionals, many of whom are ETF industry veterans and have extensive product development, product structuring and sales experience. At the end of September 2014, the company has raised $2 billion in assets across 21 investment products.

Denver-based Janus Capital currently has several distinct investment groups, including equity and fixed income teams within Janus Capital Management LLC, as well as subsidiaries INTECH Investment Management LLC and Perkins Investment Management LLC.

has offices in London, Milan, Munich, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Melbourne, Paris, The Hague, Zurich, Frankfurt, Dubai and Taipei. At the end of June 2014, JCG managed approximately $177.7 billion in assets for shareholders, clients and institutions around the globe.

JNS closed Friday's trading at $13.95, down $0.02 on a volume of 7.21 million shares.