SWEDEN - Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) has announced it has reached an agreement to acquire 100% the shares in Key Asset Management (KAM) for an undisclosed sum.

KAM, a London-based manager of fund of hedge funds with around £1.5bn (€2bn) in assets under management, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SEB, operating  as a separate unit within its wealth management division.

Rebranded as SEB Key, "KAM's senior management and executives will continue in their existing roles, and the KAM product range and investment process will be unaffected by the transfer of ownership," the company said in a statement.

Stockholm-based SEB said the acquisition is an important step in its strategy to continue growing its alternative investment business and to strengthen its general asset management product offering.

SEB and KAM have been working together since 2003, and KAM has advised SEB on SEB on a fund of hedge funds.

This acquisition will take SEB's assets under management in hedge funds to approximately SEK40bn (€4.3bn).

If you have any comments you would like to add to this or any other story, contact Carolyn Bandel on +44 (0)20 7261 4622 or email carolyn.bandel@ipe.com