Aviva Investors Acquires Road Asset Management

By staff Writer

January 06, 2010 at 07:00 PM

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A global asset management company has acquired a value-oriented U.S. equity management firm.

Aviva Investors, a unit of the Des Moines, Iowa-based U.S. arm of Aviva P.L.C., London, has agreed to buy a 100% interest in River Road Asset Management, Louisville, Ky.

Aviva is not disclosing how much it is paying for River Road, but it says it hopes to complete the deal by March 31. The managers of River Road will stay with the company after the deal is completed, and River Road will keep its offices in Louisville, Aviva says.

Aviva plans to make River Road's equity management team part of Aviva Investors North America, a unit that now handles fixed-income and liability-driven asset management for insurance companies, public pension funds and other institutional clients.

River Road, which had $3.6 billion in assets under management at the end of the third quarter of 2009, sells institutional separate account and investment sub-advisory services. The company uses a proprietary "absolute value" investment philosophy. The River Road deal will help Aviva Investors North America add the ability to help clients with equity holdings, according to Greg Boal, the chief executive officer of Aviva Investors North America.

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