US Bancorp Fund Services, which turned 40 on Bastille Day, hopped on the buyer's seat for the first time in eight years, with its acquisition of Fiduciary Management Inc.'s mutual fund administration and accounting servicing division.

Joe Redwine US Bancorp Fund Services President

The last time US Bancorp did a deal was back in 2001, when it acquired Wadsworth Corp., which provided fund administration services and later expanded into fund accounting.

The deal closed October 1, said Joe Redwine, US Bancorp Fund Services president, in an interview with The MFWire on Tuesday. He declined to discuss the terms of the transaction. No investment bankers were involved in the deal.

Two factors drove the deal, according to Redwine.

"We have shared clients with them for the better part of three decades," he said. "It made a lot of sense."

Fiduciary Management started its servicing division in 1981. US Bancorp Fund Services provides transfer agent and custody services to Fiduciary Management clients such as Brandywine Funds, the Reynolds Funds and Fiduciary Management's FMI Funds.

The deal also gave US Bancorp the opportunity to "acquire many talented and very experienced mutual fund administrators and accountants," Redwine said. Eight people from Fiduciary Management have joined US Bancorp Fund Services.

US Bancorp Fund Services executives started talks with Fiduciary Management officials in January of this year, Redwine recalled.

"They expressed a desire to focus on asset management," he said.

On the mutual fund side, US Bancorp Fund Services has relationships with 220 fund sponsors. It provides one or more of its key services to around 1,450 funds, Redwine said. Assets in the mutual funds total $520 billion. US Bancorp serves 4.5 million shareholder accounts. 

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