Victory Capital to buy First Eagle for $7 billion, creating a $571 billion manager as shares hit a record

Victory Capital agreed to acquire First Eagle Investment Management from Genstar Capital and First Eagle employees for about $7 billion, split roughly $4.4 billion cash and $2.0 billion in new Victory equity, plus assumption of $575 million of First Eagle notes. The combined firm expects about $571 billion in total client assets. Victory says the deal is roughly 35% accretive to 2027 adjusted EPS with about $280 million of net expense synergies. VCTR hit an all-time high of $119.68.

VCTR entered a definitive agreement to acquire First Eagle Investment Management from Genstar Capital and First Eagle employees for approximately $7.0 billion, comprising about $4.4 billion in cash and $2.0 billion in newly issued Victory Capital equity. Victory also assumes $575 million of First Eagle's existing 7.25% senior secured notes due 2032. Genstar retains roughly 14.6% of the combined company on a fully diluted basis, with voting power capped at 4.9%, and the deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027 subject to regulatory approval and client consents.

The combination is expected to hold approximately $571 billion in total client assets. That is the company's own framing and the label matters: Victory brought $348.8 billion in total client assets as of July 31, 2026, and First Eagle about $222 billion in assets under management. First Eagle's centre of gravity is its global value multi-asset platform, roughly $135 billion of that total, built around downside-mitigation strategies. Coverage describing First Eagle as a high-yield house is reading from a narrower slice, its high-yield municipal franchise of about $7.4 billion built up since 2024.

On economics, Victory says the transaction is expected to be approximately 35% accretive to 2027 estimated adjusted earnings per share, inclusive of roughly $280 million of anticipated net expense synergies. Financing is fully committed through a new $3.5 billion term loan B, about $950 million of new secured notes and an upsized $200 million revolver, with the existing term loan B left in place. That leverage is the central risk in the story, alongside the client-consent process that any asset-management deal has to clear.

The market took it well. VCTR rose 4.17% in our own intraday snapshot and touched an all-time high of $119.68, with Investing.com marking the move at 4.42% and the stock up about 85% year to date. What to watch from here: regulatory clearance and the first-quarter 2027 close target, net flows at First Eagle through the pendency period, and whether the $280 million synergy figure survives contact with two distinct investment cultures.

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