In a noteworthy deal aligning two prominent asset managers, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is representing leading UK-based hedge fund Man Group plc in its announced acquisition of Numeric Holdings LLC, an investment manager based in Boston.

Under their joint agreement, Man will pay $219 million in cash, with up to $275 million payable to Numeric management and employees following after a five-year period.  The deal is expected to close in September.

With some $55 billion in assets under management, Man Group is one of the largest alternative investment managers globally.  The company, whose roots date back to 1783 as a London barrel maker, is a constituent stock in the Financial Times 250 Index and trades under the ticker UK: EMG.

Numeric Holdings was founded in 1989 and is known for its quantitative equity investing, including long-only and long-short strategies.  The company, also known for its strong research base, had $14.7 billion under management as of May 31.

In a statement announcing the acquisition, Man CEO Manny Roman said “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Numeric, which has an excellent track record of performance and innovation in quantitative investing.”  He noted that the transaction will help Man advance two core strategic objectives:  “First, to build a diversified quantitative fund management business with significant assets in fundamentally quantitative strategies and second, to develop further our presence in the U.S. market.”

Milbank Corporate partner Jane Morgan in New York is leading the deal team on behalf of Man Group, assisted by Tax partner Russell Kestenbaum, Alternative Investments special counsel Cathy Martin and Corporate associates Kim Shah, Andrew Everett, Amy Kurtich and Zachary Gennett.