The alternative investment managers Gottex Fund Management and EIM Group, have merged their businesses, establishing a new, global investment management company.

The alternative investment managers Gottex Fund Management and EIM Group, have merged their businesses, establishing a global investment management company with headquarters in Switzerland and offices in London, Boston, New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The fee earning assets of the combined group will be close to $10 billion by the first half of 2014, spanning across its investment, advisory and risk management solutions.

The new firm will have broader capabilities, providing clients with multi-asset, multi-manager and Asia-focused investment solutions, as well as risk and infrastructure services.

The all-share transaction is based on an exchange of shares where Gottex shareholders would own approximately 70 per cent of the enlarged group and EIM shareholders approximately 30 per cent. EIM, which provides strategies for high net worth and institutional investors, will add about $3 billion in assets under management (as at 30 September 2013) to the new group. The transaction will be subject to approval of relevant regulatory authorities, as well as Gottex shareholders.

Both firms said that they hope to achieve “a meaningful positive operational result once synergies are fully achieved and which should be accretive on a per share basis 12 months after completion” of the deal.

“Combining our respective businesses will enable us to create a major industry player with a global footprint, built on a vibrant solutions platform offering investments in alternative and traditional strategies aimed at institutional and private investors around the world,” said Arpad Busson, chairman of EIM.

Gottex chief executive Joachim Gottschalk will lead the new, combined group, which expects to have finished the transaction of shares within three to four months.

The deal comes only a month after Gottex announced a joint venture with China's VStone Asset Management, to further investment opportunities in Asia and raise capital from the region.