The Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund is to acquire a 20 per cent stake in investment manager Gresham House.

The deal, which is subject to and conditional upon the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting and Admission occurring, will see the fund acquire 2,546,372 new ordinary shares for 325p per share.

The acquisition by Berkshire of 10 per cent or more of the ordinary shares in Gresham House is subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a result of the indirect interest that Berkshire will acquire in the company's wholly owned subsidiary Gresham House Asset Management Limited (GHAM), which is authorised by the FCA.

The investment comes as Gresham House announced the launch of the British Strategic Investment Fund as part of an alternative investment platform to support the investment objectives of longer term institutional investors, including private sector pension funds, endowments, local government pension scheme funds and family offices.

The fund will be managed by GHAM, and it is proposed that Berkshire will also become a cornerstone investor in the fund once established. However, investment in the fund is not conditional to Berkshire’s acquisition of shares being approved.

Gresham House reported that since the announcement of its interim results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2016 on 28 September 2016, it has continued its positive development. The company expects to announce its annual results for the financial year to 31 December 2016 on 29 March 2017 which are expected to be in line with market expectations.

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