Nearly three months after TCW simultaneously announced that it was buying fellow Los Angeles-based Metropolitan West Asset Management and firing CIO Jeff Gundlach, TCW has completed the MetWest purchase.

TCW now has AUM of more than $115 billion. When the deal was unveiled last December 4, TCW had $110 billion of assets and MetWest had $30 billion.

TCW absorbed all 115 employees from MetWest. MetWest employees moved from their Wilshire Boulevard offices to TCW's headquarters on South Figueroa Street last week, a TCW insider told The MFWire.

Since the acquisition was unveiled December 4, MetWest has attracted about $1 billion in inflows, TCW executives said in a press release issued Wednesday.

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Company Press Release

LOS ANGELES – February 24, 2010 – The TCW Group (TCW), an international asset-management firm, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Metropolitan West Asset Management LLC (MetWest), a leading fixed income investment management firm. Adding the highly regarded MetWest team of 115 individuals, TCW offers its clients an extremely strong and highly competitive platform, managing a substantial range of asset classes across equity, fixed and alternative investments. Since its founding in 1996, MetWest has delivered superior fixed income returns for its clients through a valuedriven investment philosophy and a client-centered culture. MetWest’s strategies, all of which are teammanaged, have performed in the top quartile among comparable fixed income strategies, garnering four nominations for Morningstar’s Fixed Income Manager of the Year and receiving this distinguished honor in 2006. All of MetWest’s founding investment professionals have been actively involved in the integration process and have seamlessly continued the management of TCW’s high grade fixed income portfolios in addition to MetWest’s existing funds and client accounts. Since the acquisition was announced, MetWest has seen approximately $1 billion in inflows, a very positive sign that clients have confidence in a combined TCW/MetWest.

Marc Stern, CEO of TCW stated, “The strategic acquisition of MetWest provides TCW with a strong investment platform to meet the needs of our clients and further enhance its long-term growth potential. MetWest’s David Lippman, now Head of TCW’s High-Grade Fixed Income Group, and MetWest’s Tad Rivelle, now the High-Grade Fixed Income group’s Chief Investment Officer, have been instrumental in facilitating the integration of our two firms. They and their teams have worked tirelessly to provide our clients with outstanding service from day one. The successes we’ve seen even in these early days of our integration are a testament to the skill and expertise of the entire MetWest team, their professional dedication and steadfast commitment to clients. We welcome MetWest’s collaborative, team-oriented approach and see it as an integral part of our shared success going forward. Together, we are building a cohesive, unified firm in which everyone is valued, respected and encouraged to succeed.”

Jacques Ripoll, Head of Société Générale’s Global Investment Management and Services, stated, “Société Générale is committed to developing TCW for the long-term. The acquisition of MetWest ensures TCW will continue to have an extremely strong and attractive multi-asset-class investment platform for its clients.” David Lippman stated, “For the past 13 years we’ve strived to deliver an array of fixed income products and a standard of service that reflected favorably on MetWest such that the firm would be considered amongst the best in the fixed income industry. Today, in a rapidly evolving and exceedingly more competitive industry, this business combination ensures that TCW/MetWest has the vitality, cohesion and culture to offer the marketplace appealing, relevant and innovative fixed income solutions long into the future.”

Tad Rivelle, who is overseeing investing activity for $70 billion in high-grade fixed income assets at TCW, stressed that the combined High-Grade Fixed Income team has always been “staying focused on our clients and on our strict value investing discipline.”

Looking beyond the acquisition, CEO Stern further stated, “As we look to the future, I believe TCW is as well positioned today, than at any point in our history, to collaboratively leverage the firm’s strength in equities, alternatives and fixed income to the benefit of our clients. We remain focused on delivering return for clients and continuing to build and grow our product platforms in equities, as well as in alternative assets.” TCW was advised on the MetWest transaction by Citi, acting as financial advisor, and by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, acting as legal advisor. Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor and Irell & Manella LLP acted as legal advisor to MetWest.

About TCW
Founded in 1971, The TCW Group, Inc. develops and manages a broad range of innovative, value-added investment products that strive to enhance and protect clients' wealth. The firm has over $115 billion in assets under management*. TCW clients include many of the largest corporate and public pension plans, financial institutions, endowments and foundations in the U.S., as well as a substantial number of foreign investors and high net worth individuals. TCW is a subsidiary of Société Générale. For more information, please refer to www.tcw.com.

 

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