State Street Corporation (STT) said on Tuesday that it will acquire European investment servicing firm Mourant International Finance Administration in an effort to expand its global fund administration and alternative servicing capabilities.
According to the company, the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2010 and expected to be slightly accretive to 2010 earnings, excluding one-time costs.
Channel Islands-based Mourant International has about $170 billion in assets under administration and approximately 650 employees in locations including Dublin, Singapore and New York. It provides administration services for alternative investments, such as private equity, real estate and hedge funds.
With $17.9 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.7 trillion in assets under management as at Sep 30, 2009, State Street operates in 27 countries and more than 100 geographic markets worldwide. The company’s results for the last few quarters have been hurt by the global decline in world stock markets and problems in some of the bond funds it managed.
As a result, the company is trying to gain further business by expanding into more complicated areas of money management services such as settling trading orders and reporting on portfolio characteristics. As a market leader, State Street provides services for middle office assets valued in excess of $6 trillion to clients globally and its investment management operations outsourcing solution covers all aspects of the trading cycle.
The Mourant acquisition will strengthen State Street’s leadership in global alternative asset servicing. The State Street and Mourant businesses together will rank as the leader in alternative asset servicing globally. This acquisition also helps State Street expand its operations in Europe and Asia.
Read the full analyst report on “STT”
Zacks Investment Research
