Bloomberg – Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, bought New York-based Asset Management Finance Corp. for $384 million to provide financing to investment firms. <\/p>\n
Credit Suisse paid stock for more than 80 percent of the firm, founded by former Putnam Investments chief Norton Reamer in 2003, from a unit of National Bank of Canada. Reamer, 72, who also ran Boston-based United Asset Management Corp., will stay on, the bank said today in a statement. <\/p>\n
AMF, which provides capital to money managers in exchange for a slice of revenue, will benefit from Credit Suisse’s global reach, said Brian Finn, chairman of the Zurich-based company’s alternative-asset business. The unit, which manages $167 billion, holds a minority stake in hedge-fund firm Ospraie Management LLC and has started joint investing ventures with Abu Dhabi and General Electric Co. <\/p>\n
AMF “is a platform with a leadership team and an investment approach in which we see enormous growth opportunities,” Finn said in an interview. <\/p>\n
Reamer targets independent money managers looking to expand or buy out a founder who wants to retire. In exchange for up- front cash, it gets a share of future revenue. It doesn’t acquire an ownership stake.<\/p>\n