London-based investment manager Lansdowne Partners LLP, one of the UK's oldest hedge fund firms, is continuing its push into long-only investing by agreeing to acquire $1.1 billion UK equities manager CRUX asset Management, according to a report by Reuters.

London-based investment manager Lansdowne Partners LLP, one of the UK's oldest hedge fund firms, is continuing its push into long-only investing by agreeing to acquire $1.1 billion UK equities manager CRUX asset Management, according to a report by Reuters.

The report cites an investor letter seen by Reuters as confirming that CRUX founder Richard Pease will retire when the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is completed. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Lansdowne, which currently manages $7 billion of assets, will take all of the funds currently managed by CRUX, while CRUX employees and managers will remain in their current roles, according to the letter. 

Lansdowne has experienced a turnaround in fortunes since closing its $2.8 billion long-short hedge fund strategy in July 2020 after losses of 23% in the January-June period.

Since then, the investment manager has steered towards a more traditional asset management approach mostly buying stock, rather than selling it, although it still runs a hedge fund strategy, the Princay Fund, launched in April 2015, which concentrates on a smaller number of European stocks and can be up to 20% net short.