The credit crisis fueled a substantial 33% increase in asset management mergers and acquisitions in the third quarter, compared to 3Q07,
Of these deals, divestitures accounted for 40% of the deals, up from 23%. The total assets under management in deals worth $6.4 billion neared $1 trillion, more than triple the $300 billion of the $6.1 billion worth of deals in the third quarter of 2007.
As we anticipated, tremors transforming the global financial landscape have served as a catalyst to asset management deal flow, said Aaron Dorr, a managing director with Jefferies Putnam Lovell. Cash-strapped financial institutions are likely to step up their sales of asset management firms to grapple with investor redemptions and lack of liquidity, Dorr said.
