New York City-based ACA Group is buying the broker-dealer distribution business from UMB Fund Services, a subsidiary of UMB Financial Corporation, Kansas City, Mo. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
The deal includes asset management clients with mutual fund, exchange-traded fund, and closed-end fund products. The transaction will add more than $48 billion in client assets to ACA’s internal distribution division, ACA Foreside, which is co-led by Teresa Cowan and Chris Lanza.
“We are thrilled to announce this acquisition, which is a pivotal moment in our journey to continue redefining the landscape of financial services,” Lanza said.
ACA Foreside is the industry’s largest third-party distributor by number of funds, currently distributing and servicing $2 trillion in assets across hundreds of fund families.
“We are excited about the opportunities this acquisition brings to our strategic growth vision alongside the ability to expand our market presence and deliver exceptional value to our clients and stakeholders,” said ACA CEO Patrick Olson.
Financial terms of the acquisition, ACA’s sixth of the year, were not disclosed.
“This transaction supports our efforts to focus on our core competencies and continue strategically growing our fund administration, fund accounting and transfer agency business,” said Maureen Quill, executive vice president, executive director for Registered Funds of UMB Fund Services. “We will continue to service many of these clients through our core lines of business and look forward to maintaining and growing those relationships. We are confident our clients will have a smooth and seamless transition for distribution services through both UMB’s and ACA Foreside’s continued focus on delivering best-in-class service.”
UMB Fund Services, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., serves more than 360 clients with combined assets of more than $440 billion as of April 30.