MutualFundWire.com: One Teton Fund Will Swallow Another
MutualFundWire.com
   The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication
Thursday, March 19, 2009

One Teton Fund Will Swallow Another


The disappearance of the B.B. Micro-Cap Growth Fund inches closer. On Thursday Teton Advisors said that the fund will merge into the GAMCO Westwood Mighty Mites Fund on March 27, thanks to a now-complete shareholder vote approving the move. Teton, which already manages Mighty Mites, has managed the B.B. fund, formerly known as the Bjurman, Barry Micro-Cap Growth Fund, on an interim basis since December 1.

GAMCO spun off Teton as a separate company last month (see MFWire, 2/25/2009).


Company Press Release

RYE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Teton Advisors, Inc. is pleased to announce that the shareholders of the B.B. Micro-Cap Growth Fund (formerly named the Bjurman, Barry Micro-Cap Growth Fund) (The “B.B. Fund”) have approved their merger into the GAMCO Westwood Mighty MitesSM Fund (The “Mighty Mites Fund”). The merger will occur at the close of business on Friday, March 27, 2009, whereby B.B. Fund shareholders will receive the equivalent value of shares of the Mighty Mites Fund. Teton Advisors, Inc. has been the interim manager of the B.B. Fund since December 1, 2008 and currently manages the Mighty Mites Fund. The portfolio management team of the Mighty Mites Fund includes Mario J. Gabelli, Chairman of GAMCO Investors, Inc., Laura S. Linehan and Walter K. Walsh.

“We thank the shareholders and the Board of Trustees of B.B. Micro-Cap Growth Fund for their confidence in our portfolio management team,” said Nicholas F. Galluccio, President and CEO of Teton Advisors, Inc. “The success of this merger demonstrates our capability to accommodate investment management mandates in the small and micro cap equity asset class, including mutual fund acquisitions.”

Teton Advisors, Inc. is the registered investment adviser to six open-end mutual funds under the GAMCO Westwood brand. As of December 31, 2008 Teton Advisors, Inc. assets under management were $450 million.

The stocks of smaller companies may trade less frequently and experience more abrupt price movements than stocks of larger companies, therefore, investing in this sector involves special challenges. Investing in micro capitalization stocks may involve greater risk than investing in small, medium and large capitalization stocks, since they can be subject to more abrupt or erratic movements in price. The GAMCO Westwood Mighty Mites sm Fund may invest in relatively new or unseasoned companies, which are in their early stages of development, or micro cap companies positioned in new and emerging industries. Micro-cap companies may be illiquid. Securities of micro-cap and unseasoned companies present greater risks than securities of larger, more established companies.

The Fund's share price will fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund's portfolio securities. Stocks are subject to market, economic and business risks that cause their prices to fluctuate. When you sell Fund shares, they may be worth less than what you paid for them. Consequently, you can lose money by investing in the Fund.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, sales charges and expense of the fund carefully before investing. The prospectus contains more complete information about this and other matters. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

You can obtain a free prospectus by calling the Distributor, Gabelli & Company, Inc. at 1-800-GABELLI (1-800-422-3554), or contacting your financial representative or by visiting http://www.gabelli.com.

Mighty MitesSM is a service mark of GAMCO Investors, Inc.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Our disclosure and analysis in this press release contain some forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations or forecasts of future events. You can identify these statements because they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” and other words and terms of similar meaning. They also appear in any discussion of future operating or financial performance. In particular, these include statements relating to future actions, future performance of our products, expenses, the outcome of any legal proceedings, and financial results. Although we believe that we are basing our expectations and beliefs on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of what we currently know about our business and operations, there can be no assurance that our actual results will not differ materially from what we expect or believe. Some of the factors that could cause our actual results to differ from our expectations or beliefs include, without limitation: the adverse effect from a decline in the securities markets; a decline in the performance of our products; a general downturn in the economy; changes in government policy or regulation; changes in our ability to attract or retain key employees; and unforeseen costs and other effects related to legal proceedings or investigations of governmental and self-regulatory organizations. We also direct your attention to any more specific discussions of risk contained in our Form 10-K and other public filings. We are providing these statements as permitted by the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We do not undertake to update publicly any forward-looking statements if we subsequently learn that we are unlikely to achieve our expectations or if we receive any additional information relating to the subject matters of our forward-looking statements.


Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=21067

Copyright 2009, InvestmentWires, Inc.
All Rights Reserved