Nationwide to focus on expansion in U.S. consumer and small-business
markets
COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Nationwide Mutual Insurance
Company (Nationwide) and Hellman & Friedman Advisors LLC, a San
Francisco-based private equity investment firm, today announced they have
entered into a definitive agreement for Nationwide's sale of Gartmore
Investment Management plc (GIM), the London-based arm of Gartmore Group, to
Hellman & Friedman. Pending the appropriate U.K. and other regulatory
approvals, the transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of
2006. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Nationwide will retain Gartmore's U.S. investment operations, which
does business as Gartmore Global Investments, Inc. (GGI). During a
transition period, Nationwide will be re-branding its U.S. Gartmore-branded
funds. The U.S. investment operations are headquartered in the metropolitan
Philadelphia area and employ approximately 275 associates in offices across
the United States. Nationwide will maintain GGI's strong U.S. investment
platform, which manages more than $46 billion in assets, including mutual
funds, separate accounts, collective investment funds and other pooled
investment vehicles. GGI was recently acknowledged as the best "Overall
Small Fund Family" at the 2006 Lipper Fund Awards, which ranks the delivery
of consistent, risk-adjusted performance relative to peer groups on both a
fund and company level for the prior three-year period.
"The Gartmore U.K. transaction finally allows us to focus on the more
rapidly growing U.S.-based consumer and small-business markets where our
competitive position is strong," said Jerry Jurgensen, chief executive
officer of Nationwide. "Gartmore's significant institutional pension and
hedge fund business does not benefit from or enhance this strategy. Rather,
mutual funds represent a growing share of U.S. consumers' financial assets
and are an area in which we want to expand. We also plan to fully harness
our distribution strength, which includes a Nationwide Financial sales
force of more than 1,000 affiliated registered representatives and 200
wholesalers who have strong relationships with approximately 55,000
registered representatives in banks, independent broker/dealer firms,
regional brokerages and national wirehouses."
Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest diversified
insurance and financial services organizations in the world, with more than
$158 billion in assets. Nationwide ranks #98 on the Fortune 100 list. The
company provides a full range of insurance and financial services,
including auto, motorcycles, boats, homeowners, life, commercial insurance,
administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions and
long-term savings plans. The Nationwide companies include the country's
seventh-largest property/casualty, the fourth-largest homeowners, the
sixth- largest auto insurance group and the country's largest farm owners
insurer. Nationwide Life Insurance Company, the major subsidiary of
Nationwide Financial, ranks 11th in assets according to A.M. Best. For more
information, visit http://www.nationwide.com.
Nationwide and the Nationwide Framemark are federally registered
service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. On Your Side is a
service mark of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
Contacts:
Nationwide
Eric Hardgrove (614) 677-8516
hardgre@nationwide.com
Gartmore
Ed Dunn (484) 530-1390
dunne@gartmore.us
SOURCE Nationwide
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Related links:
http://www.nationwide.com
CONTACT:
Eric Hardgrove of Nationwide,
+1-614-677-8516, or hardgre@nationwide.com; or Ed Dunn of
Gartmore, +1-484-530-1390, or dunne@gartmore.us
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