Graham Tuckwell, the founder and majority owner of exchange traded fund manager ETF Securities, has put the company up for sale, the Financial Times reported over the weekend.
The company manages commodity ETFs that are listed in the U.S. and international exchanges. It is best known in the U.S. for its family of precious metals ETFs.
Assets under management in U.S.-listed products stood at $4.7 billion in September, or about 15% of the firm’s $31 billion in worldwide assets under management. It entered the U.S. market in 2009 and its lineup includes precious metal ETFs such as ETFS Physical Silver Shares (NYSEArca: SIVR) and ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSEArca: SGOL).
Tuckwell, ETF Securities chairman, has put the company on the block with a potential $1.6 billion price tag, while Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) is running the sales process, FT reported.
Six months ago, the company was said to be planning an initial public offering. In the spring, reports circulated that ETF Securities was considering a $1 billion share listing. [ETF Securities Mulls IPO]
Venture capital firms Millennium Technology Value Partners and FTV Capital both have stakes in the ETP provider, CityWire reported Monday.
ETF Securities offers more than 200 exchange traded products.