Mellon turns to MBR&M for WestLB joint venture

Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw has advised regular client Mellon Financial Corporation on its asset management joint venture with WestLB.

Mellon and WestLB have agreed to launch a new joint asset management business this year. The combined group, which will be known as WestLB Mellon Asset Management, will have around €40bn (£27.4bn) in managed assets.

Corporate partner Stephanie Bates told The Lawyer: "We advised Mellon on its joint venture with ABN Amro a few years ago and no doubt our corporate department expertise and international coverage were a factor in winning the work."

The agreement was signed just before Christmas, with the deal due to close by the first quarter of this year.

The deal matches WestLB's large client base with Mellon's distribution network. The new company will include WestLB's asset management activities in Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US.

Banque D'Orsay (BDO), WestLB's French banking subsidiary, will be the joint venture's exclusive distributor in France, while Mellon will distribute the asset management products of both the joint venture and BDO globally.

Clifford Chance partner Katherine Coates acted for WestLB.