Jim Armitage: Henderson and Janus 'merger' will open doors for boss Andrew Formica

Andrew Formica must know the film Things to do in Denver When You’re Dead backwards by now. The Henderson chief has been negotiating his takeover of that dull city’s Janus Capital for months, clocking up air miles even faster than usual for a man running a fund manager based in London and Australia.

Oops. Did I say “takeover”? Sorry, I meant “merger of equals”, as the press release says. Hmm. This is a merger of equals where Janus gets a minority of the shares, has its headquarters moved to Henderson’s in Bishopsgate, and relocates its chief executive to London.

But even away from the spin doctors’ La-La Land, this could be a hat-trick of canny buys for Formica. He snapped up New Star and Gartmore for a song in tough times and, largely, integrated them well. Janus should be similar.

In fund management, big is beautiful. Distributors such as UBS want funds with global reach like BlackRock and Fidelity. Jenderson (Hendersanus?) gets closer to that, which can only be good. Jupiter and Ashmore must be looking at their options, too.

Things to do in Denver ends badly for everyone. This deal won’t be so bloody.