Mercury Asset Management

The company was established in 1969 when S. G. Warburg & Co., the investment bank, won an investment management contract and set up Warburg Investment Management to execute it. In 1987 25% of the business was floated on the London Stock Exchange as Mercury Asset Management. Carol Galley, one of its leading managers, was credited with facilitating the takeovers by Granada of both London Weekend Television in 1994 and Forte Group in 1996. At its peak more than half the companies on the FTSE 100 used Mercury Asset Management for investment management purposes.

In 1995, the company achieved full independence when S. G. Warburg & Co. sold its investment banking business to Swiss Bank Corporation; through a scheme of arrangement the residue of S. G. Warburg & Co. became a subsidiary of Mercury Asset Management and S. G. Warburg & Co. shareholders become shareholders in Mercury Asset Management.

The company was acquired by Merrill for £3.1 billion in 1997. Mercury was rebranded Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM). It was acquired by BlackRock in 2006.