Legg Mason acquiring majority stake in Clarion Partners

Baltimore-based money manager buys 83 percent interest for $585M

Legg Mason Clarion
From left: Joe Sullivan and Stephen Furnary

Legg Mason’s mooted acquisition of a majority stake in real estate investment firm Clarion Partners is all but sealed, and the money manager has agreed to take an 83 percent stake in the Midtown-based firm for $585 million.

The deal adds about $40 billion in real estate assets under management to Baltimore-based Legg Mason’s books. New York-based Clarion Partners’ management team will retain the remaining 17 percent interest in the company, with the firm’s previous majority partner, Lightyear Capital, selling its entire ownership stake in the transaction.

The two sides were reported to be in exclusive negotiations over a deal earlier this month, according to Bloomberg. Clarion, founded in 1982 by Stephen Furnary and John Weisz, recently acquired a majority stake in 86 Trinity Place in the Financial District for $105 million, as The Real Deal reported.

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In September, Clarion partnered with Alchemy Properties and ABR Partners to acquire the leasehold on a 25-story Midtown Office Building On East 43rd Street for $99 million, TRD reported.

In a separate statement, Legg Mason announced it would merge its Permal hedge fund platform with New York hedge fund investor EnTrust Capital. Legg Mason will own 65 percent of the new business, which will be called EnTrustPermal and will hold more than $26 billion under management. [Bloomberg] – Rey Mashayekhi