Germany’s Universal-Investment has announced the acquisition of SEB Master KAG, a UCITS platform, a move which Universal-Investment spokesperson Bernd Vorbeck said will strengthen the firm’s position “as the only complete provider of administration services in Germany”. “SEB has had business ties with Universal-Investment for many years,” commented SEB chairman Fredrick Boheman. He added that the two firms “will continue to cooperate together in the sectors of custodian banks, prime brokerage and brokerage”. The merger will take place over the course of 2012. It gives Universal-Investment an additional EUR110million in assets and a platform with existing funds that include Tungsten Capital Management and Volksbank. Both parties in the merger agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Universal-Investment is already active in hedge funds through its Luxembourg subsidiary, which currently manages nearly EUR2billion in assets. It also manages EUR2billion on UI-Newcits, the firm’s existing platform for hosting alternative UCITS strategies.