State Street to acquire Goldman fund

State Street Corporation, one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, has agreed to acquire Goldman Sachs Administration Services in a deal worth around $550 million (€450m).

A hedge fund administrator in the Goldman Sachs Group, Goldman Sachs Administration Services administers $200bn (€163bn) in single manager hedge fund assets on behalf of approximately 150 investment manager clients from locations across the globe. Employees, including client-facing staff and the management team, are expected to join State Street following the close of the transaction. The transaction does not include Goldman Sachs’s Prime Brokerage business.

State Street employs some 3,000 people globally in hedge fund administration. Of these, about one-third are based in Ireland. More than 40% of the world’s hedge fund administration business is located here.

State Street said that this acquisition firmly establishes the company as the number one hedge fund administrator globally based on industry survey data. In terms of global alternative assets, State Street had $877bn (€715bn) under administration on Jun 30, 2012.

George Sullivan, executive vice president and global head of State Street’s AIS team, said: “Servicing alternative assets remains a focus for State Street. We expect GSAS clients will benefit from State Street’s robust and flexible global servicing platform that is scalable for funds of all types and sizes.”