Just months after being jilted by Nationwide, Pilgrim Baxter & Associates, Inc., the United Asset Management Corp.-owned asset manager, has retained Goldman Sachs and Allen & Co. to investigate possible distribution partners, a move cementing the talk that UAM is still looking to sell Pilgrim Baxter.

PBHG and UAM's stated aim for this search is to meet both companies' strategic objectives and to refocus PBHG on money management. Finding a company to provide or support wide retail distribution of the PBHG Funds -- either through a strategic partnership or an outright sale -- would meet these goals, according to the company.

"A sale of Pilgrim Baxter to the proper partner would meet both firm's strategic objectives," the release stated. Although the release added that "there can be no assurance as to the final outcome of the process." UAM may have learned this caution from its experience with Nationwide Financial Services (NFS) last year. Neither UAM nor spokespeople for Pilgrim Baxter would comment as to any possible partners.

UAM has been moving towards selling Pilgrim Baxter since last year when it was in talks to sell Pilgrim Baxter to NFS. Part of Pilgrim Baxter's efforts to grow its distribution channels included hiring Paul Hondros from Fidelity to grow the institutional channels as he had at the Boston Behemoth. But as the performance of its funds fell off, the deal collapsed and Hondros left UAM. He resurfaced at NFS where he will head up a new and as yet unnamed institutional marketing arm for NFS's funds out of Philadelphia. 

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