Ameriprise Financial will acquire J.&W. Seligman & Co. for $440 million, with the deal expected to close during the fourth quarter.
Seligman has $18 billion in client money, of which $11 billion is retail, $4 billion institutional and $3 billion from alternatives, said Ameriprise spokesman Ryan S. Lund. At the end of March, RiverSource Investments, Ameriprise’s U.S. money management unit, was managing $146 billion in client assets, Mr. Lund said.
While the acquired firm will become a part of RiverSource Investments, its strategies will continue to use the Seligman brand name.
The purchase is a sign of Ameriprise’s commitment to the asset management business, Christopher P. Keating, director and head of institutional sales, client service and consultant relations for RiverSource, said in a telephone interview. The acquisition brings a number of strong teams and high-margin strategies to Ameriprise, Mr. Keating said, including the technology investment team led by Paul Wick, which manages $2 billion in hedge funds and more than $3 billion in retail strategies.
Mr. Keating said the addition of Seligman’s 13 sales, client service and consultant relations professionals will almost double RiverSource’s 16-person staff.
UBS Investment Bank advised Ameriprise Financial on the acquisition, while Merrill Lynch advised Seligman.
