Gávea manages approximately $6 billion in hedge and private equity funds. It was co-founded in 2003 by chairman and chief investment officer Arminio Fraga, former president of the Central Bank of Brazil.  

"This has been a long courtship of one of the finest global macroeconomic hedge fund managers in the world," Mary Callahan Erdoes, chief executive of JP Morgan Asset Management said in a statement.

Highbridge is one of the largest hedge fund managers in the world. It manages approximately $21 billion.

Highbridge and Gávea will have a relationship similar to that created by JP Morgan Asset Management's purchase of Highbridge in 2004. Gávea’s investment process will remain unchanged, and its day-to-day activities will continue to be managed by its executive team.

JP Morgan first bought a controlling stake in Highbridge in 2004 for more than $1 billion and purchased the entire firm in 2009.

Terms of the deal, which is expected to close shortly, were not revealed.