Industry

Delaware Investments of Philadelphia announced the sale of its Unit Investment Trust (UIT) business to Nike Securities of Lisle, Illinois. Prior to the sale, Delaware supervised UITs with assets valued at about $200 million.

Charles Schwab has gained a foothold in the Canadian market. Schwab announced Dec. 14 it has acquired privately-owned Priority Brokerage and Porthmeor Securities, both of Toronto. Paul Bates, president and ceo of the two widely held firms, will stay on as president and ceo of the combined firm, to be renamed Charles Schwab Canada. David Pottruck, president and ceo of the San Francisco based parent, said Canada is an established market that represents immediate and long term opportunities for Schwab. The acquisition, for an undisclosed price, is subject to regulatory approval.

Cigna Corporation of Philadelphia is establishing a join venture with Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance of Tokyo to sell pension and investment products in Japan.

The demand for mutual funds in Germany is growing and Federated Investors has gained a toe-hold in that market. Federated, the Pittsburgh-based mutual fund firm, has entered into a joint venture agreement with a German insurance company, LVM-Versicherungen, to sell retail mutual funds in Germany and in portions of Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The joint venture, which will be under the auspices of a new company based in Frankfurt, Federated Asset Management GmbH, also will provide institutional money management services.

In a move likely to be heard round the globe, two of the world's largest institutional investors have formed an alliance that they hope will advance their corporate governance agendas.

Thomas Marsico, his family and top employees at his money management firm will share $120 million in cash for the sale of 50 percent of Marsico Capital Management, the money management firm and mutual fund adviser based in Denver. Last month BankAmerica Corp. said it had decided to exercise its option to acquire 50 percent of Marsico's firm. Details of the transaction, which Marsico and BankAmerica previously had not disclosed, were included in a preliminary proxy statement which Marsico Capital Management filed Dec. 1 with the SEC.

Straus Corporate Communications of New York, an investor relations firm, and Caithness, a corporate marketing organization based in Toronto, announced they have formed an alliance to provide corporate communications services to companies in both the U.S. and Canada. For U.S. companies, the alliance will provide a Canadian resource for communications materials production at savings of up to 40 percent from U.S. prices. In turn, the alliance will provide Canadian companies with services designed to build an investment presence in the U.S.

Deutsche Bank AG and Bankers Trust Corporation are in the advanced stages of negotiations concerning a potential cash merger at a proposed price of $93 per Bankers Trust share. The board of directors of Bankers Trust, and the steering committee of the Deutsche Bank Vorstand (or management board), have each indicated their support for the proposed transaction.

Scudder Funds announced a three-year agreement with IBM to provide IBM Internet Connection Services to its customers. IBM will provide Scudder's fund customers with a choice of three service plans, and offer free trial service for the first 30 days or 30 hours, whichever occurs first.

After selling itself to Bank of America in October of 1987, Robertson Stephens Investment Management, the investment management unit of Robertson Stephens & Company, will return to private ownership. A group of investors led by G. Randy Hecht, the current president and ceo and other senior managers agreed to take private the San Francisco-based investment manager with approximately $4 billion under management for an undisclosed sum.