UK's Aberdeen to acquire $2 billion of US closed-end assets

LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - British money manager Aberdeen said on Friday it would acquire the management of nine U.S.-based closed-end funds with assets totalling 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion), part of an ongoing drive to expand in the U.S. market.

Aberdeen will buy the funds from Boston-based investment manager MFS and merge them into two larger funds together with one existing Aberdeen fund, which will then invest in areas including bonds and the hot private credit market.

The deal marks Aberdeen's tenth acquisition of U.S. closed-end funds since 2000, and the firm said it was well-placed to further consolidate the sector to build bigger funds that deliver greater economies of scale.

The company's shares were up 0.7% after the announcement. Aberdeen CEO Jason Windsor said in a statement that the company would continue to invest in areas where it saw significant room for growth.

No staff will transfer as part of the deal and no acquisition value was stated.

Abrdn