Northern Trust to Buy Citadel Asset Administration Business

Northern Trust said it plans to acquire technology-driven hedge fund administration firm Omnium from Citadel, the large Chicago asset manager and market-making firm.

Omnium has about $30 billion of hedge fund assets under its administration and $40 billion from other financial institutions. The firm relies on software delivered online to provide administrative services that are intended to allow clients to trade in stocks, bonds or any other asset class at any time, at any market in the world.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Until this deal was announced, Citadel said it was committed to "growing its fund administration platform." The acquisition is expected to close by the end of September.

Omnium's staff and technology will be folded into Northern Trust’s Corporate & Institutional Services business unit as Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services, LLC.

Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services will offer world-class, scalable technology and dedicated expertise to serve hedge funds and large institutional investors with complex portfolios.

The business will provide trade processing, valuation, real-time reporting, cash management, accounting, collateral management and investor servicing, Northern Trust said.

“In today’s markets, asset managers and institutional investors demand high performance, greater transparency, and outstanding technology from their administrator,” Northern Trust Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederick H. Waddell said. “This acquisition brings together the best in hedge fund administration expertise, along with Northern Trust’s robust global custody capabilities and our highly respected client focus. The result is a unique opportunity to scale a world-class business.”

Northern Trust is a large asset servicing firm, operating globally. The company supplies middle- and back-office services to investment managers and fund sponsors.

Omnium, created by Citadel in 2007, provides middle-office support, access to data for real-time monitoring of results, and support for high-volume and highly complex investment strategies. Omnium is headquartered in Chicago, with operations in New York, Hong Kong and Bermuda.

Northern Trust, a financial holding company based in Chicago, has offices in 18 U.S. states and 16 international locations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

As of March 31, 2011, Northern Trust had assets under custody of $4.4 trillion, and assets under investment management of $662.2 billion.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
M&A Money Management Executive
MORE FROM FINANCIAL PLANNING