Liontrust slumps nearly 20% in a month as GAM deal mooted

Shares in growth-orientated asset manager Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) have fallen by nearly 20% in a month, with the stock losses exacerbated by news it might be interested in buying Swiss rival GAM.

Whether this suggests shareholder aversion to such a deal or is merely a reaction to the company’s lacklustre first quarter when the company reported material outflows is open to question.

Assets under management fell 3.6% in the three months to 31 March, which was worse than the performance of the wider peer group and worse than analyst expectations.

Discussing the potential GAM deal, which would boost exposure to fixed income, Numis analyst David McCann notes the more recent track record on acquisitions has been patchy.

‘Our view is that Liontrust has historically been bestin-class post-acquisition products and production capacity. Earlier this month it bought two US-based popcorn manufacturing plants to support its SkinnyPop brand which was central to the $1.6 billion acquisition of Amplify Snack Brands in 2017.

It has also expanded into the US vegan chocolate market with dairyfree alternatives of its iconic brands, Reese’s and Hershey’s. [SG] at reducing ongoing costs and right-sizing acquisitions quickly, integrating into the Liontrust infrastructure and rebranding,’ he says.

‘However, we do consider that certain of the recent acquisitions, notably Majedie and Architas, have so far resulted in loss of shareholder value in our opinion, given a combination of paying too much (Majedie) and weaker than targeted operating performance / flows (both).’ [TS]