Art Steinmetz is betting on smart beta with OppenheimerFunds' [profile] latest acquisition.

Today the New York City-based mutual fund shop and MassMutual subsidiary unveiled a deal to buy VTL Associates [profile], home of the RevenueShares ETFs. VTL has $1.7 billion in AUM and offers eight ETFs. OpFunds had $220 billion in AUM as of August 31.

Citigroup advised OpFunds on the deal, and and RBC Capital Markets advised VTL.

Steinmetz, chairman, president, and CEO of OpFunds, praises VTL for its "distinctive approach to smart beta" and describes the shop as "an outstanding addition." Vince Lowry, founder of VTL, states that he's "delighted to join the OppenheimerFunds family."

OpFunds last acquired back in 2012, when it bought MLP-focused mutual fund shop SteelPath.

Pricing, terms, and timing for the close of the deal were not disclosed. Yet back in 2013 Chinese private equity firm Suzhou Industrial Park Kaida Venture Capital reportedly paid $7 million for a 22-percent stake in VTL, implying a valuation at the time of about $32 million for all of VTL. 

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