Ameriprise Financial Inc. of Minneapolis has agreed to
sell its defined contribution recordkeeping business to Wachovia Corp.,
the companies announced today.
The deal is expected to be completed late in the second quarter,
pending U.S. Justice Department approval, according to Ameriprise. The
terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
As of March 31, Ameriprise provided recordkeeping and plan
administration services to 225 defined contribution plans with nearly
700,000 participants and administered about $28 billion in defined
contribution assets, including about $11.5 billion in RiverSource
managed assets.
Ameriprise Financial, a financial planning services company with more
than 12,000 advisors, owns Ameriprise Trust Company, which is custodian
for Ameriprise IRAs, RiverSource Funds and other accounts managed by
Ameriprise affiliates.
Ameriprise's defined contribution unit will become part of Wachovia
Retirement Services, which will grow to more than 2 million
participants and pensioners and more than $100 billion in assets after
the deal.
"This transaction is representative of our strategy to strengthen our
focus on our core capabilities of personal financial advisory, asset
accumulation, income and protection," said Jim Cracchiolo, chairman and
CEO of Ameriprise Financial. "With this sale, we enhance our margins,
return on equity and shareholder value, while exiting the scale-driven,
recordkeeping portion of this business and assuring that our client
needs are addressed."