Japan's Orix to buy Robeco Groep from Rabobank for $2.6 billion

Japanese diversified financial services firm Orix Corp today said that it would buy Dutch asset manager Robeco Groep N.V. from Rabobank for €1.94 billion ($2.6 billion) in a cash and stock deal.

Under the terms of the Japanese company's largest ever acquisition, Tokyo-based Orix will pay Rabobank $2.6 billion for a 90.01 per cent stake of Robeco, and Rabobank will retain a 9.99 minority stake.

Robeco is a prominent independent asset manager, founded in 1929 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It offers broad-based asset investment services to institutional and private investors and is a global leader in sustainability investing.

It provides investment solutions to more than one million private investors, institutional clients and distribution partners. As on 31 December 2012, Robeco had €189 billion ($251 billion) in assets under management, over 1,600 employees located in fourteen countries.

Robeco's assets under management increased last year by 26 per cent to €189 billion at the end of December. Net new cash was also at a record of €18.4 billion, while net profit increased from €134 million to €197 million.

Orix said that the deal is its ''most significant strategic acquisition to date,'' and added that the unit would serve as its primary platform for future global expansion.