Ron O'Hanley and his team are taking over a $100-billion AUM asset manager.

Ronald O'Hanley State Street Global Advisors President and Chief Executive Officer

As expected back in February, today State Street chairman and CEO Jay Hooley unveiled an up-to-$485-million cash deal to buy GE Asset Management [profile]. The expectation is that the deal will close in Q3 2016. GE has been publicly searching for a new home for GEAM since September.

GEAM has three mutual fund lines: the $4.6-billion GE Institutional Funds, eight funds in total, for institutional investors and platforms like 401(k)s; the $4.8-billion Elfun Funds, six in total, which date back to 1935 and are for GE employees and their family members; and the $2.8-billion GE Investment Funds, eight in total, for use in variable annuity platforms. Maureen Mitchell, president of global sales and marketing for GEAM, oversees both GEAM's institutional business and its mutual fund platform.

GEAM has about 300 employees, and a small team will stay on with GE to provide investment oversight regarding's GE's own pension. SSgA expects to bring over about 275 GEAM employees.

Credit Suisse is advising GE on the SSgA-GEAM deal. The price tag translates into up to 0.485 percent for the institutional asset manager.

O'Hanley, president of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), puts the deal in the context of the changing defined benefit pension marketplace. And Dmitri Stockton, chairman and president/CEO of GEAM, calls the deal a boost for SSgA's "ability to grow its presence in the pension plan outsourcing segment."

"This transaction reflects our view of GEAM as a very high quality organization with strong cultural alignment with SSgA. It is also reflective of our desire to allocate capital to higher growth and return businesses," Hooley states. "We believe this will help accelerate our strategic plan to extend our capabilities in key areas for our clients."

Bloomberg, the Boston Globe, the New York Times, Reuters, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal all reported on the deal.

Per prior reports, other bidders for GEAM were: Columbia's parent company Ameriprise, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs, and Invesco. 

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