SS&C Technologies Holdings said Tuesday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the business and assets related to O'Shares ETFs.
The acquisition price was not disclosed, SS&C, a global provider of services and software for the financial services and health-care industries, said in a news release. The strategic deal with O'Shares ETFs will expand the offerings of SS&C ALPS Advisors, SS&C's wholly owned asset manager, the release said.
Under Windsor, Conn.-based SS&C's ownership, O'Shares ETFs will remain focused on wealth preservation, income and capital appreciation while leveraging SS&C ALPS Advisors' distribution capabilities, the release said.
"O'Shares has built a strong ETF presence focused on a targeted suite of high-quality dividend products such as (O'Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF)," Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA, said after the deal was announced. "However, it will benefit from the scale and distribution benefits of being a part of a larger asset manager in the highly competitive ETF market."
Denver-based SS&C ALPS Advisors had $18.2 billion under management as of Sept. 30, SS&C's release said. O'Shares' firmwide assets under management totaled $1.5 billion, a spokesman for SS&C said.
In a separate news release Tuesday, Boston-based O'Shares said the ETFs it manages will be reorganized into newly created ETFs formed by SS&C ALPS, subject to approval of the boards of trustees of OSI ETF Trust and ALPS ETF Trust as well as approval from O'Shares ETFs' shareholders at a shareholders' meeting to be announced.
O'Shares Investment Advisers, which is not part of the planned acquisition, will provide SS&C ALPS Advisors with continued use of the current ETF indexes under license agreements and will provide ongoing marketing support of the ETFs.
"The transaction with SS&C ALPS provides important scale and enhanced distribution," Kevin O'Leary, chairman of O'Shares, said in the release. "We will continue to work with their leadership and sales teams to support the growth of the funds in all markets across the country."
Mr. O'Leary is known for appearing on ABC's Shark Tank.
