The acquisition of Global X—the 17th-largest U.S. ETF issuer, with some $9.3 billion in assets under management—by South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments was announced late yesterday.
Mirae Asset, which has roughly $30 billion in ETF AUM and a total of $400 billion in assets across its operations, has been accumulating a lineup of global ETF properties in recent years, including Horizons in Canada, BetaShares in Australia and Tiger ETF in Asia.
“With Global X on board, we are now connecting one of the most successful U.S. ETF firms to a prominent Asian-based global ETF manager, creating a powerful ETF platform,” said Taeyong Lee, Mirae Asset’s president and global head of ETFs, who termed the transaction a “landmark event” for the development of his institution’s global ETF business.
Global X’s ETF Stable
Global X currently has 52 ETFs trading on U.S. exchanges, the largest of which is the $2.2 billion Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ). Its most recent launch was the Global X Iconic U.S. Brands ETF (LOGO), which made its debut in October 2017 and has just $3.1 million in AUM.
While Mirae Asset is gaining an established footprint in the rapidly growing U.S. ETF market through the acquisition, Global X will now be able to tap into the resources of a global financial institution, the press release announcing the deal notes.
Bruno del Ama, Global X’s CEO, who co-founded the firm in 2008, will be leaving the company after the close of the deal, and current COO & President Luis Berruga will assume the CEO role. The company’s day-to-day operations will continue unchanged, and the issuer will retain the Global X brand, the press release says.
Under the terms of the deal, Global X will sell 100% of its fully diluted shares to Mirae Asset, with the sale projected to conclude in the third quarter, according to the release, which did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.
Heather Bell can be reached at [email protected]