Fondcenter AG stands as the fund distribution platform of UBS, and has now been acquired by Clearstream. Clearstream stands as a post-trade service provider of Deutsche Börse, and has taken the majority stake in Fondcenter for the price of CHF 389 million, or around $423 million.

Merging For A New Entity

The two parties had agreed on the deal back in January this year, but they only managed to close the deal this Wednesday. As it stands now, Clearstream is the proud owner of 51.2% of the B2B fund distribution support platform, with the rest remaining in the ownership of UBS.

With this deal, Clearstream will see its existing Fund Desk merge with the Fondcenter business. This, in turn, will form the Clearstream Fund Centre. This new platform sports more than $290 billion in assets under administration, and the management is expecting revenue growth in the double-digits for the next few years, as well.

The Mandatory Kind Words

Benard Tancré stands as the CEO of Fondcenter, and serves as the Head of Investment Fund Services Products at Clearstream. In a statement, he highlighted how Fondcenter’s fund platform business could perfectly complement the existing fund distribution support service that Clearstream offers.

Tancré stated that fund distributors will be capable of accessing contracts that cover over 70,000 funds, spread across the globe, with this newly-combined Clearstream Fund Centre. As such, Tancré expressed delight in regards to how the firm is now capable of offering such a comprehensive portfolio to both its future and its existing client base.

UBS Making Long-Term Commitments

In the announcement, it was explained that UBS would serve as a strategic partner for the platform at large. Alongside this, it has committed to a long-term agreement in regard to the provision of services by Clearstream. This includes continuing to use the Fund Centre Platform itself, as well.

Micheal Kehl stands as the Head of Asset Management at UBS, and gave a statement about the matter, as well. He explained that Clearstream stands as a trusted owner, one UBS can rely on for further growth and development of the business at large. Kehl also claimed that this newly-combined Fund Centre platform is one well-placed for the future. As such, he expressed well-wishing to the team, hoping they achieve every success they can while taking this business forward.

It will be interesting to see how this new player will affect the finance world at large. Time will only tell, but the most probable course is a success for both companies.