Matrix Asset Advisors has put a deal that would have let its Value Fund be adopted by a fund run by Strong Capital on the back burner for as much as year. The investment advisor had put the deal on hold after investigators alleged Strong's founder had made improper trades in the firm's funds.

In a filing with the SEC on Monday, the fund's board said that the adoption would not be in the interest of fund shareholders. The deadline for the deal had been December 13. According to the statement, the firms have agreed to put the adoption on hold until December 13, 2004. Strong will have the option on whether it wants to go through with the adoption.

Strong's hiring of Goldman Sachs to find possible buyers also added complexities to the adoption that did not exist when it was first agreed to.

The deal was first announced in August, just weeks before the fund scandals broke on September 3. Strong was named in the initial complaint against Canary Capital Partners as one of four fund firms that exempted the hedge fund from its prospectus rules in regards to trading limits.

The Matrix Advisors Value Fund would have been merged into the Strong Large Cap Value Fund. Meanwhile, Matrix would have take over as subadvisor to the fund.  

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