Henderson Group is moving closer to acquiring ailing fund manager Gartmore in a proposed £345 million deal thought to value the hedge fund and long only funds operator at 95 pence per share.

Gartmore CEO Jeff Meyer is hoping to seal the sale ahead of the yearend though due diligence by Henderson may delay completion. Meyer hired Goldman Sachs in November to advise on strategic options for Gartmore.

If the sale proceeds, it will mark a hefty loss for investors who backed Gartmore's flotation in December 2009 at 225 pence per share.
Since then, Gartmore has lost several key hedge fund mangers, most notably Roger Guy, who announced his decision to retire in November.

Gartmore still manages over £21 billion in both hedge and long only funds. John Bennett, hired from GAM in January 2010, is taking over from Guy the running of Gartmore's large cap European equities portfolios.

By acquiring Gartmore, Henderson would augment its product offering in international equities and hedge funds. The overlap between the groups means that any acquisition is likely to be accompanied by a wide ranging restructuring and hefty redundancies.