* Head of UK Equities and Head of Credit poised to walk
* Henderson takeover of Gartmore due April 4
(Adds detail, background)
LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - Three senior Gartmore money managers will leave the ill-fated investment house as it merges with Henderson Group next month, ceding control of billions of pounds of assets to their former rivals.
The reshuffle sees senior managers Leigh Himsworth, Dan Roberts and John Anderson leave as 14 Gartmore funds are absorbed into their equivalents at Henderson, the firms said in a statement.
Himsworth, head of UK equities at Gartmore, will relinquish the UK Alpha and UK Growth funds to Henderson Head of Pan European Equities, Stephen Peak, as the Anglo-Australian asset manager looks to streamline its range, pending regulatory approval of the January takeover.
Roberts, manager of the Gartmore UK Equity Income Fund, hands over to Graham Kitchen and Andrew Jones, who run Henderson's 461 million pound Higher Income Fund.
Philip Payne takes on Gartmore's flagship Corporate Bond fund from Anderson, credit head at Gartmore. This will be merged into the 1.84 billion pound Henderson All-Stocks Credit fund.
The Corporate Bond fund is one of three that Anderson will walk away from. Payne and colleagues Stephen Thariyan and Chris Bullock will also assume responsibility for the Gartmore Fixed Interest and the Gartmore SICAV European Corporate Bond funds.
A spokesman for Henderson said none of the three managers would be joining the newly merged group, set to have around 78 billion pounds of assets under management.
Gartmore's John Bennett, who ran around 3.6 billion euros in assets, much of it inherited from departed star fund manager Roger Guy, emerges as a notable beneficiary of the merger, retaining control of his portfolios.
Gartmore looked to Bennett to fix its damaged reputation when it started the search for a buyer last year as its shares slumped after losing key fund managers.
The firm awarded him more than 9 million shares, making him the owner of 3.2 percent of the company and lining him up for a hefty windfall after the merger.
David Jacob, Henderson chief investment officer, said the deal would beef up its position as a diversified asset manager.
"I am delighted that we have secured all the Gartmore investment teams that we identified for permanent positions within the combined group," Jacob said in a statement. (Reporting by Sinead Cruise and Chris Vellacott; Editing by Will Waterman)