Santander Asset Management to Merge with Pioneer Investments

Cleary Gottlieb is advising Santander Asset Management which announced on April 23, 2015 that it is to merge with Pioneer Investments to create a leading global asset manager in Europe and Latin America. Santander Asset Management is a joint venture between private equity funds Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic (as to 50%) and Santander SA ( as to 50%). Cleary is also advising the private equity funds on the transaction. Pioneer is owned by Unicredit.

The combined company, with approximately €400 billion in assets under management at the close of 2014, will be called Pioneer Investments. Following completion of the deal, a new holding company owned 50% by UniCredit and 50% by Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic will own 100% of the US business of Pioneer and 66.7% of the entity resulting from the combination of Santander Asset Management and the operations of Pioneer outside the US, with Santander owning the remaining 33.33% of such entity.