U.K.-based Threadneedle has acquired Convivo Capital Management, a US$476 million specialist emerging market hedge fund.

Convivo’s CEO Julian Adams, will join Threadneedle to run its enlarged emerging market debt business.

“This transaction achieves two important goals for Threadneedle: it further boosts our hedge fund business and it significantly increases our presence in emerging  markets,  particularly in the areas of currency and debt,” said Simon Davies, chairman of Threadneedle. “We believe that the combined resource of Convivo and Threadneedle represents a major attraction to our client base.”

Threadneedle, which launched its hedge fund business in 2000, will now manage about US$3 billion across nine different strategies, three of which will be in the emerging market space.  The firm will launch more strategies later in the year.  Overall, Threadneedle will manage over US$10 billion in emerging markets of which US$1.5 billion will be in the debt and currency area.

Convivo was founded in May 2003 through the purchase from Aberdeen Asset Management Ltd of its Guernsey-based emerging markets fund management business. The Convivo Absolute Sovereign High Yield Fund was established (originally at Aberdeen Asset Management) in July 1999 and has assets of US$ 447.8 million as of the end of July. The Convivo Emerging Opportunities Fund was established in January 2006 and has assets of US$ 6.7 million as at July 30.