Four months after announcing it will quit the business of mutual fund management, Caterpillar has announced plans to merge its ten Preferred Group mutual funds with ten funds managed by Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price.

T. Rowe Price spokesperson Steve Norwitz described the deal as "a good fit" for the investment management firm. The Preferred Group funds, he said, "can be mapped easily to ours, and have similar objectives."

The Preferred Group of Mutual Funds were advised by Caterpillar Investment Management Ltd., a subsidiary of the Peoria, Illinois-based equipment manufacturer.

On Thursday, the Group's Board of Trustees voted to approve the ten transactions, with closing tentatively slated for June 19. However, the merging of funds is subject to the approval of Preferred Group shareholders and the T. Rowe Price Funds' Boards of Directors.

The Preferred Group funds are cumulatively worth more than $2.9 billion, and include roughly $1.7 billion belonging to Caterpillar's 401(k) program. 

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