Parent of Fred Algers Management Acquires Weatherbie Capital

Parent company of Fred Algers Management acquired Weatherbie Capital which has been in the businesses since 1995 and currently manages $800 million in assets. Here is an excerpt from the press release:

“Weatherbie Capital was founded in 1995 by Matthew Weatherbie and, similar to Alger, takes a fundamental, bottom-up research approach to investing in growth equities. Weatherbie Capital aims to identify and invest in attractive U.S. small- and mid-cap companies poised for growth. The firm’s flagship strategy, the Weatherbie Specialized Growth strategy, has, for its 20-plus years in existence, demonstrated a record of strong relative performance. Mr. Weatherbie will remain CEO and, again become Co-CIO of Weatherbie Capital, which at closing, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Alger.

We are thrilled that Matt and his team have decided to affiliate with Alger. As with our firm, Weatherbie Capital has had in place a proven investment process and philosophy since its founding. This, along with a strong cultural fit and synergies, and similarities between our firms’ approaches to investing in growth equities, makes this acquisition a natural fit,” said Dan Chung, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Fred Alger Management, Inc. “The Weatherbie Capital results speak for themselves and we are confident that Alger will be strengthened by their insight and expertise.”

Weatherbie Capital has nine employees and will continue to operate in Boston as a discrete subsidiary of Alger Associates, Inc. The firm currently offers three main investment strategies: the largest strategy is the Weatherbie Specialized Growth strategy, a long-only smaller companies investment strategy. In addition, they manage two private funds for high-net-worth investors, one a focused long oriented strategy and the other a long/short strategy.

…There will be no changes to Weatherbie Capital’s investment process, which is primarily based upon finding companies in six of the most dynamic growth sectors in the U.S. economy – Consumer, Health Care, Diversified Business Services, Media and Communications, Information Services, and Technology. The investment team seeks to identify companies with a significant and enduring business advantage that will produce sustained earnings growth into the future.”

The three most interesting positions in Weatherbie Capital’s 13F portfolio at the end of September were GTT Communications (GTT), FirstService Corp (FSV), and Cotiviti Holdings (COTV).