Janus Henderson Takes Majority Stake in Victory Park Capital
Janus Henderson Group agreed to acquire a majority stake in Victory Park Capital Advisors (VPC) to expand its private credit and institutional capabilities. The acquisition comprises a mix of cash and shares of Janus Henderson stock. The deal is expected to be neutral-to-accretive to earnings per share in 2025 and close in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Janus Henderson expects to issue about $34 million of stock at the closing and may pay an additional $27.8 million in 2027 if certain revenue targets are achieved. The company did not reveal the amount of cash it will pay.
Established in 2007 by Richard Levy and Brendan Carroll, Chicago-based VPC complements Janus Henderson’s securitized credit franchise and expertise in public asset-backed securitized markets. It has specialized in asset-backed lending since 2010, including in small business and consumer finance, financial and hard assets, and real estate credit.
“Asset-backed lending has emerged as a significant market opportunity within private credit, as clients increasingly look to diversify their private credit exposure beyond only direct lending,” said Janus Henderson CEO Ali Dibadj.
The firm also offers structured financing and capital markets solutions through its affiliate platform, Triumph Capital Markets. Since it was formed in 2007, VPC has invested about $10.3 billion across more than 220 investments and has assets under management of about $6 billion.
As part of the arrangement, Janus Henderson can purchase the remaining minority stake in VPC and Triumph over a three-year period commencing in 2029. If Janus Henderson so desires, it may fund a portion of that consideration with common stock.
Janus Henderson said Victory Park will complement and build upon its $36.3 billion in securitized assets under management. Janus Henderson has been a pioneer in active securitized ETFs with products including JAAA, the largest CLO ETF, JBBB, which provides exposure to floating-rate CLOs generally rated BBB, the recently launched JSI, which invests in opportunities across the U.S. securitized markets, and JMBS, the largest actively managed mortgage-backed securities ETF.
This acquisition follows the company’s recent announcement that it will acquire the National Bank of Kuwait’s emerging markets private investments team, NBK Capital Partners, which is expected to close later this year.