Deals & People April 18, 2011

Principal to Acquire Finisterre Capital

Principal Global Investors has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Finisterre Capital LLP and Finisterre Holdings Limited, an emerging markets investor based in London.
Reported by

Founded in 2002, Finisterre Capital has approximately $1.63 billion in assets under management primarily across three funds: Global Opportunity Fund, Sovereign Debt Fund and Credit Fund. The five partners (Frode Foss-Skiftesvik, Paul Crean, Rafaël Biosse Duplan, Xavier Corin-Mick, and Yan Swiderski) will retain a significant minority stake in the business and have agreed to put a significant share of their consideration into funds managed by the firm. They will continue to direct the day-to-day operations and will retain authority over fund investment decisions, the announcement said.

Through this transaction, The Principal will enhance its emerging market investment capabilities, with an opportunity to develop a wider platform through the launch of complementary new emerging market products and strategies, and further strengthening its multi-boutique model. The transaction is expected to close early in third quarter, pending regulatory approval.

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It is part of the Principal Financial Group’s 2011 capital deployment strategy of spending approximately $700 million on executing attractive M&A opportunities and a share repurchase program, the company reported.

Deals & People April 18, 2011

Mesirow Appoints Head of U.S. Value Equity Management

Mesirow Financial announced that Susan J. Schmidt has been promoted to managing director and head of its U.S. Value Equity Management group.
Reported by

Schmidt reports to chairman and CEO Richard S. Price.  

Schmidt joined Mesirow Financial in 2009 as portfolio manager for the mid-cap and small/mid (SMID)-cap value strategies. Within a few months, she became a portfolio manager for the small- and micro-cap value strategies as well.  She has more than 20 years of experience in the equity investment management industry.   

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Before joining Mesirow Financial, she was as an equity analyst at Essex Investment Management Company. Previously, she served as a senior equity analyst at Magnetar Capital.   

Schmidt earned a Master’s of management from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Smith College. She also received a general course diploma from the London School of Economics.

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