Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) — Marshall Wace LLP plans to raise as much as 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in an initial public offering of a hedge fund, the largest such sale.
The London-based hedge-fund manager will sell shares of MW Tops Ltd., a closed-end investment company that will pursue a range of strategies. The fund is seeking 1 billion euros and might increase the sale to a maximum of 1.5 billion euros, Paul Marshall, co-founder of Marshall Wace, said in an interview today.
Marshall Wace is following firms, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., that have made hedge funds available to the general public by selling stock in IPOs and listing shares in the funds on an exchange. The fund manager is seeking to lure buyers after some rival funds have so far made little money for investors.
