Eaton Vance acquired 80% of Fox Asset Management, a value-oriented institutional investment firm with $2 billion in assets under management, for $60 million. Eaton Vance will make an initial payment of $32 million in cash and Eaton Vance stock, and payments through 2006 totaling up to $30 million, contingent on financial performance. Fox’s investment processes and management structure will remain autonomous.
The deal will help Eaton Vance build a separate-account business for institutional and high-net-worth investors, said James Hawkes, Eaton Vance CEO. He said the firm is expecting to make another acquisition this summer, possibly an institutional growth-oriented manager.
Eaton Vance has $50 billion in assets, including $3 billion in institutional assets.
