SS&C Technologies today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire O’Shares ETFs.
As part of the deal, the four ETFs managed by O’Shares, which hold a combined $1.5 billion in assets, will be reorganized into newly created ETFs formed by SS&C ALPS Advisors, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SS&C Technologies with $18.2 billion under management.
The affected funds include the O’Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETF (OUSA) holding $826 million in assets, the O’Shares Global Internet Giants ETF (OGIG) holding $487 million in assets, the O’Shares U.S. Small-Cap Quality Dividend ETF (OUSM) holding $164 million in assets, and the O’Shares Europe Quality Dividend ETF (OEUR) holding $41 million in assets.
The transaction will provide for long-term collaboration between the asset managers and expand the range of products offered by SS&C ALPS Advisors.
“SS&C ALPS Advisors believes in innovation, and our strategic relationship with O’Shares will support our mission to deliver diverse investment opportunities,” Laton Spahr, president of SS&C ALPS Advisors, said. “We share many of the same quality and thematic investment principles and are excited about our opportunities our new relationship presents.”
Under SS&C’s ownership, O’Shares ETFs will continue to focus on wealth preservation, income, and capital appreciation, leveraging SS&C ALPS Advisors’ broad distribution capabilities.
“We look forward to working with SS&C ALPS and their larger organization to bring our strategies to more investors and advisors,” Connor O’Brien, CEO of O’Shares, said in a statement. “This transaction provides expanded distribution for the ETFs, and also creates the potential for collaboration in developing more ETFs, building on our Quality and Thematic investment principles.”
Following the transaction, O’Shares will provide SS&C ALPS Advisors with continued use of the current ETF indexes under license agreements and provide ongoing marketing support of the ETFs.
“This is a strategic move for O’Shares. The transaction with SS&C ALPS provides important scale and enhanced distribution,” Kevin O’Leary, chairman of O’Shares, said. “We will continue to work with SS&C ALPS leadership and sales teams to support the growth of the funds in all markets across the country. The ETFs will continue tracking the proprietary indexes we developed, focusing on quality and preservation of capital.”
The transaction is contingent upon the approval of the Boards of Trustees of OSI ETF Trust and ALPS ETF Trust and of the O’Shares funds’ shareholders. The date of the shareholders’ meeting is to be announced.
The acquisition price was not disclosed.
For more information, visit www.alpsfunds.com and www.ssctech.com.
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