Mellon Seen Interested in MFS, Putnam

Mellon Financial might be willing to spend up to $8 billion or more to bolster its standing as an asset management firm, analysts tell the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In fact, the company might be considering buying MFS Investments and/or Putnam Investments, they say, each of which could be worth $4 billion.

If Mellon were to acquire either firm, it would become one of the five largest asset management firms in the nation.

Should the company decide to merge with another firm, on the other hand, the price tag would not be as high.

“I would be shocked if Mellon was not one of the leading bidders,” said Richard Bove, an analyst with Punk Ziegel. Bove added that he believes one of the reasons Mellon installed Robert Kelly as CEO in February “is to make acquisitions. As these companies come up for bid, certainly Mellon will be taking a look.”

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.