Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) is negotiating the sale of its hedge fund administration business to State Street Corp (NYSE:STT) and could strike an agreement by the end of June, according to a report today by the Financial Times.
The talks with State Street are nearing conclusion, after Goldman Sachs has been in contact with a number of interested parties over the last several months, informed people told the paper.
First reports on a potential sale of Goldman Sachs Fund Administration came out in April, but over the past few weeks State Street has stood out as the frontrunner in the race, the report said.
The business to be sold manages USD200bn (EUR158.2bn) of assets and the combination with investment manager State Street would create an entity with nearly USD700bn worth of funds under administration.
Goldman Sach’s business, with offices covering most big offshore centres, has a portfolio including over 500 hedge fund clients, with top players such as Och-Ziff and York Capital among them.
Goldman Sachs Fund Administration employes some 250 staff globally.
State Street’s fund administration business manages assets of almost USD500bn.
Its clients count among them mutual funds, collective investment funds, corporate and public retirement plans, insurance companies, foundations, endowments and investment managers.
Goldman Sachs made no comment to the Financial Times.
