Legg Mason (LM) Posts Q3 adj.-EPS of $1.45; AUM at $671.5B

Piper Jaffray Remains Bullish Following Legg Mason's (LM) Multiple Investments Announcement

Piper Jaffray maintained an Overweight rating on Legg Mason (NYSE: LM), and cut the price target to $53.00 (from $57.00), following the company's strategic investments announcement. LM announced three strategic investments (Clarion Partners, EnTrust, Precidian) consuming over $985M of cash. Piper has a favorable view of... More

Legg Mason (LM) Combines Hedge Fund Permal with with EnTrust Capital

Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to combine Permal, Legg Mason's existing hedge fund platform, with EnTrust Capital. EnTrust is a leading independent hedge fund investor and alternative asset manager headquartered in New York with approximately $12 billion in total assets and complementary investment strategies, investor base and business mix to Permal. The business combination will create a new global alternatives firm with over $26 billion in pro-forma AUM1 and total assets of $29 billion2. The firm will have a diverse offering of proprietary investment products with a... More

Legg Mason (LM) Acquires Minority Stake in Precidian Investments

Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM) acquired a minority equity position in Precidian Investments, a firm specializing in creating innovative products and solutions and solving market structure issues, particularly with regard to the ETF marketplace. Precidian leverages its patented intellectual property to both power its own ETF products subadvised by unaffiliated managers and to work with financial services firms to jointly develop solutions, structures and products to meet investor needs.

Under the terms of the transaction, Legg Mason purchased a new class of preferred equity, entitling Legg Mason to the rights... More

Legg Mason (LM) Acquires 83% Stake in Clarion Partners for $585M

Legg Mason Inc., (NYSE: LM) agreed to acquire a majority equity interest in Clarion Partners, a leading diversified real estate investment firm based in New York. One of the largest independent real estate investors, Clarion Partners manages approximately $40 billion across the real estate risk/return spectrum. Clarion Partners will operate as the primary independent real estate investment affiliate for Legg Mason.

Under the terms of the transaction, Legg Mason will acquire an 83% ownership stake in Clarion Partners for $585 million. In addition, Legg Mason will pay for its portion of certain co-investments... More

Legg Mason (LM) Closes Three Deals in 24 Hours Amid Activist Scrutiny

Legg Mason (NYSE: LM) is said to have made several deals over the last 24 hours.

The company is taking a 20 percent stake in Precidian Investments, which is an ETF firm, and is merging Entrust Capital with its existing fund-of-hedge-funds business, Permal Group,... More