DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
State Street Corp. (STT) announced plans to increase its
alternative-investment presence with the proposed acquisition of
the Channel Island's Mourant International Finance
Administration.
The cash transaction, the size of which wasn't disclosed, is
slated to close in the first quarter and "slightly" add to State
Street's earnings next year, excluding one-time costs.
Mourant has some $170 billion of assets under administration and
650 employees. It is called a leading provider of fund
administration services, particularly for alternative investments
such as private-equity, real-estate and hedge funds.
State Street said that with Mourant, it will rank No. 1 in
alternative asset servicing globally while also expanding its reach
in Europe and Asia.
"As alternative asset classes have become more mainstream, our
institutional customers plan to continue to expand their use of
this asset class," said State Street President Jay Hooley.
The company in 2002 acquired International Fund Services, a
leading provider of hedge-fund administration services, and in 2007
State Street significantly expanded in the space with two other
purchases. State Street had more than $420 billion of alternative
assets under administration as of Sept. 30, a small portion of the
$17.9 trillion in assets under custody and administration it had as
of then.
-By Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2354;
kevin.kingsbury@dowjones.com