Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has secured all regulatory approvals for the A$4.2bn (£2.34bn) sale of Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM) to Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking (MUTB).
Colonial First State is the global asset management business of the Australian bank. The business operates under the name First State Investments, outside of Australia, and also has offices across the US, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions.
CBA expects the sale of the business to be wrapped up next month.
The deal, which was signed in October 2018, was subject to multiple regulatory approvals across different jurisdictions, in Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, and the US. The multiple approvals were due to the global nature of Colonial First State and the licensed entities operated by it.
Activities of Colonial First State Global Asset Management
The CBA unit, on behalf of its institutional and wholesale investor clients, makes investments in equities, fixed income, infrastructure, and multi-asset solutions. The asset management business is said to be specialised in Asian and emerging markets, alternatives (property and infrastructure), and also passive products.
Apart from CFSGAM, the brands that are part of the asset management business include First State Stewart Asia, Realindex, and Stewart Investors. In order to generate long-term risk-adjusted returns to clients, Colonial First State had incorporated 16 specialist investment teams for autonomously designing investment approaches.
As of 31 December 2018, Colonial First State had more than A$204.2bn (£113.87bn) of assets on behalf of institutional investors, pension funds, investment platforms, wholesale distributors, financial advisers and their clients in different parts of the world.
For CBA, the sale of Colonial First State follows its decision in June 2018 to separate its wealth management and mortgage broking businesses. The asset management business was not included in the planned demerger of the wealth management and mortgage broking businesses owing to the transaction with MUTB.
MUTB is acquiring the CBA unit with an aim to address various client requirements by enlarging its product lineup and enhancing its presence as the largest asset management company in the Asia/Oceania region.
