Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF) Thursday announced it will purchase the minority shares in its McLean Budden investment management subsidiary and transfer the business to its MFS Investment Management (MFS) unit.

McLean Budden will become a wholly owned subsidiary of MFS and continue to be based in Toronto.

The purchase price of the 32.4% ownership stake is approximately $144 million, plus additional consideration to be based on performance targets being attained. The deal is expected to be completed in November.

As of August 31, the combined assets under management of MFS and McLean Budden were $261 billion.

Martin Beaulieu, currently vice chairman and head of global distribution at MFS, will become chairman and CEO of the new subsidiary and be based in Toronto.

Roger Beauchemin, currently president and CEO of McLean Budden, will continue in his role until closing and work with Beaulieu on the integration.

“Clients worldwide will benefit through an expanded global research platform, a broader range of investment solutions and increased scale to service clients,” says Kevin Dougherty, president, Sun Life Financial Canada and president, Sun Life Global Investments Inc., which oversees and develops Sun Life’s global asset management platform.

The deal will also broaden the scope of investment solutions available to McLean Budden’s clients by enabling the new company to offer MFS investment strategies.

“The partners and employees of McLean Budden are very excited by this transaction,” says Beauchemin. “It represents a tremendous opportunity for our portfolio managers, research analysts and employees to join a great global franchise from our Canadian home base.”

McLean Budden’s mutual fund business will move to Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc. “This will expand our range of fund offerings, open up a number of new channels and relationships, and accelerate the overall business plan,” says Dougherty.

McLean Budden will continue to provide portfolio management services as sub-advisors to the mutual funds. The transfer is expected to occur in April 2012.

IE