Nuveen Plans to Buy Calif. Asset Manager

Nuveen Investments, a Chicago money management company, announced Monday that it had agreed to buy Santa Barbara Asset Management.

Santa Barbara, which has $2.8 billion of assets under management, specializes in managing growth stock portfolios for institutions and high-net-worth investors.

Nuveen is to pay $50 million of initial consideration in cash for Santa Barbara, whose assets under management have doubled in the past two years. The California company's research and investment team will continue to operate independently and expand its investment platform and team over time. The deal is expected to close within 60 days.

Nuveen manages $124 billion of assets.