Comerica Inc. in Detroit and HSBC Holdings PLC in London said Monday that they had closed their sale of the U.K. asset manager Framlington Group Ltd. to Axa SA, the insurance giant headquartered in Paris.
Comerica's investment management arm, Munder Capital Management, owned 49% of Framlington Holdings Ltd., and HSBC Holdings Inc. owned 51%. Framlington Holdings sold its 90.8% interest in Framlington Group to Axa Investment Managers.
Axa paid about $350 million in cash for the firm. Comerica said its after-tax gain, net of associated costs, is expected to be about $32 million.
Munder, which bought its Framlington stake in October 1996, said the divestiture is consistent with its enhanced focus on domestic asset management. The deal was announced in July and received approval from the Financial Services Authority, a British regulatory agency.
