Franklin Templeton Investments has agreed to acquire Edinburgh Partners, an independent Scottish fund manager, for an undisclosed amount.
Edinburgh Partners currently manages around $10bn in assets and employs 12 investment professionals. In addition to Edinburgh, the firm has an office in London and two offices in the US.
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Edinburgh Partners was set up in 2003 by Sandy Nairn who will now return to Franklin Templeton as chairman of Templeton Global Equity Group and report to Franklin Templeton head of equities Stephen Dover.
Nairn served as the executive vice president and director of research at Templeton Global Equity Group from 1990 to 2000. At the same time, Nairn will also retain his role as CEO of Edinburgh Partners.
Previously, Nairn served as a portfolio manager and research analyst at Murray Johnstone and as an economist at the Scottish Development Agency.
Before founding Edinburgh Partners, he worked as CIO at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership.
Franklin Resources president and COO Jenny Johnson said: “Dr. Nairn worked alongside the late legendary global investor, Sir John Templeton, and was employed by Franklin Templeton for more than a decade. He brings a tremendous amount of leadership experience and expertise in managing global and international equities, an area that continues to be of strong interest to our clients around the world.
“This is the latest example of the firm continuing to make strategic investments in relatively small, yet highly experienced asset management teams that complement Franklin Templeton’s global offerings.”
The deal is anticipated to close in the first half of 2018, subject to regulatory approvals.
