Phoenix Investment Partners of Hartford, Conn. has announced it will acquire a 75 percent stake in Walnut Asset Management, a private asset management firm, and its sister company, Rutherford, Brown & Catherwood, a registered broker-dealer, in a cash transaction of an undisclosed amount.
Walnut Asset Management was an attractive acquisition for Phoenix because of its presence in the private client marketplace, said Sharon Bray, a spokesperson for Phoenix.
Phoenix currently manages $3.5 billion in private client assets and the deal with Walnut Asset Management will bring an additional $800 million when the deal closes in February, Bray said.
Approximately 70 percent of Walnut Asset Management's assets are from individual clients while 30 percent come from private endowments and trusts, said Bray.
Phoenix has no plans to change the names of either firm and will allow each to work autonomously, she said. There will be no layoffs, she said.
