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A well-known asset manager is the latest big name to go private.
If you’ve read a lot lately, both here and elsewhere, about public companies going private and are wondering if it is happening more than usual — it is.
According to a recent analysis by securities law firm Ropes and Gray, the third quarter of 2025 saw the most take-private deals since the second quarter of 2022. And there has been no slowing down so far in Q4. This week, we learned that another major firm may be going private, asset manager Janus Henderson (JHG).
The British-American asset manager, with some $457 billion in assets under management, is the 52nd largest asset manager in the world. It was born in 2017 out of the merger of Denver-based Janus and London-based Henderson, and is known for its strength in active management.
For years after the merger, the company struggled, experiencing steady outflows. One of the reasons is that from 2017 through 2023, it was generally a strong period for markets, so investors favored cheaper index funds.
The last two years, Janus Henderson has righted the ship, with consecutive years of inflows, due to the resurgence of active strategies and ETFs. The stock has a 10-year average return of just 1.5%, but over the past three years it has returned about 27% annually.
Janus Buyout By Activist Investors
On Monday, October 27, the company filed documents with the SEC about a proposal to take it private.
Trian Management, the activist investor that recently waged a proxy battle at Walt Disney (DIS), is looking to take Janus Henderson private.
Trian took a 20% stake in Janus Henderson in 2020 in an effort to turn the struggling asset manager around, and it has been largely successful. The stock has almost doubled since then to roughly $46 per share, as of Monday afternoon.
Trian, along with its partner, investment firm General Catalyst, has offered to buy out the rest of the remaining shares for $46 per share. That equates to about a $7.2 billion offer. The filing said the $46 per share offer is 56% higher than the price was on April 25.
On Monday, Janus Henderson stock surged 12% and is now trading at $46 per share, the same share price that Trian and General Catalyst offered. While the deal must go through various board and regulatory approvals, it must also be approved by shareholders. Since the offer now matches the current share price after Monday’s rally, it will be interesting to see if shareholders sign off on it. The company has done well and recently inked a deal with Guardian Life Insurance to manage its $45 billion fixed income portfolio.
According to Ropes and Gray, the recent surge in companies going private is largely due to interest rate cuts. Rates were cut in September, and they will likely drop again this week, and that should continue through 2026 and potentially 2027. Lower rates, among other things, reduce the cost of financing, spurring more deals.
Ropes and Gray said the deal value of companies going private has already surpassed the annual totals for both 2023 and 2024.