Delaware Investments announced Tuesday it intends to acquire Bennett Lawrence Management, a domestic growth equity manager with more than $330 million in assets under management, spokeswoman Daniela Palmieri said.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Delaware Investments expects the transaction to close during the first quarter of 2016.
Based in New York, Bennett Lawrence was founded in 1995 by Van Schreiber and Jane Fisher to serve institutional and individual investors. Mr. Schreiber will join Delaware Investments as a senior portfolio manager, serving the firm's all-cap growth equity clients; Ms. Fisher will serve as investment specialist.
Alexander Ely will become CIO of the new investment team; he will also serve as co-portfolio manager on the all-cap growth strategy. Mr. Ely was a portfolio manager and chief portfolio strategist at Bennett Lawrence. He also will continue to manage the small- and midcap growth strategies and will report to Shawn Lytle, Delaware Investments president.
The remainder of the Bennett Lawrence team, which consisted of seven investment professionals, will work out of their current New York office. The Bennett Lawrence name will not be kept.
Once Bennett Lawrence is a part of Delaware Investments, the team will focus on developing small- and midcap growth strategies. It will be the seventh boutique equity manager Delaware has acquired.
Delaware Investments had $165 billion in AUM as of Sept. 30.
