MUFG Investor Services to Acquire Rydex Fund Services

Ropes & Gray advised MUFG Investor Services, the global asset servicing group of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), in its proposed acquisition of Guggenheim Investments’ 1940-Act mutual fund administration business, Rydex Fund Services. Headquartered in Tokyo, MUFG is one of the largest banks in the world with $2.4 trillion in assets.

The assets serviced by Rydex Fund Services consist of Guggenheim- and Rydex-branded mutual funds, exchange-traded products and closed-end funds, for which Guggenheim Investments will continue to serve as investment advisor. Guggenheim Investments is the global asset management and investment advisory division of Guggenheim Partners, with $202 billion in total assets across fixed income, equity and alternative strategies.

The transaction, announced July 28, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The acquisition, when completed, will add $52 billion to MUFG Investor Services’ assets under administration (AuA) bringing total AuA to $422 billion.

The Ropes & Gray asset management M&A team advising MUFG Investor Services included private equity partner Neill Jakobe (Chicago); investment management partners Brian McCabe and Mark Nuccio (both of Boston); tax partner Elaine Murphy (Boston); business & securities litigation partner William Sussman (New York); intellectual property transactions counsel Thomas Burke (New York); antitrust counsel Deidre Johnson (Boston); private equity associates Timothy Castelli and James Davis (both of Chicago); labor & employment associate Jennifer Cormier (Boston); and executive compensation & employee benefits associate Danna Kivell (New York).