Morgan Stanley has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 19% of London-based Lansdowne Partners as part of a flurry of hedge fund investments by the US investment bank this week.
In the last three days the firm has also announced that it is buying a minority stake in Marc Lasry's New York-based Avenue Capital and plans to acquire the whole of FrontPoint Partners, also based in the US.
Morgan Stanley has had a very close relationship with Lansdowne since the firm's launch in 1998, acting as main prime broker to all of Lansdowne's five hedge funds - covering European equity, UK equity, global financials, macro and, most recently, emerging markets.
Set up by founding partners Steve Heinz and Paul Ruddock eight and a half years ago, the firm has grown into one of London's pre-eminent hedge fund firms - with a reputation for savvy and punchy long-term investment...