Back To List Print Page
  • Seller
  • Buyer
  • Type
  • Date Announced
  • Seller AUM
  • Banc of America Investment Advisors, Inc. (Bank of America Corporation)
  • ALPS Advisers, Inc.
  • Mutual Fund
  • September 8, 2006
  • $1.35 Billion

Seller Details

Banc of America Investment Advisors, Inc. (BAIA) is the investment advisor to the Liberty All-Star Funds (Funds), a family of two closed-end, NYSE-listed equity funds. They are the Liberty All-Star Equity Fund (NYSE: USA), with net assets in excess of $1.2 billion as of June 30, 2006, and the Liberty All-Star Growth Fund, Inc. (NYSE: ASG), with net assets in excess of $150 million as of June 30, 2006. BAIA is an SEC-registered investment adviser and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. In the U.S., the company serves more than 54 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 5,700 retail banking offices, has nearly 17,000 ATMs and provides online banking to more than 19.8 million active users. The company serves clients in 175 countries.

Buyer Details

ALPS is a subsidiary of ALPS Holdings, Inc. (ALPS Holdings) of Denver, Colorado. Established in 1985, ALPS Holdings provides administration, distribution, accounting and transfer agency services for open-end and closed-end mutual funds, as well as active distribution of Exchange-Traded Funds and closed-end funds. ALPS Holdings is a portfolio company of Lovell Minnick Partners LLC, a private equity firm focused on investments in the financial services industry.

Transaction Summary

Under terms of the agreement, BAIA's Liberty All-Star management team is expected to join ALPS to continue managing the funds which will continue to operate in Boston. The completion of the transaction is conditioned upon, among other things, shareholder approval of a new investment advisory agreement with ALPS and new sub-advisory agreements among the funds, ALPS and the various sub-advisors that manage the Funds' portfolios. The agreements are on substantially the same terms as the investment advisory and sub-advisory agreements that are currently in effect. ALPS will be registered as an investment advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission prior to consummation of the transaction.

Back To List