State Street, Brown Brothers Harriman Nix $3.5B Deal

Boston-based State Street says it reached a mutual agreement with investment bank Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) to end its $3.5 billion deal to buy BBH’s investor services unit, citing expected delays in the regulatory process.

With $35.7 trillion in assets under custody and administration, State Street noted that the “transaction structure was increasingly complex, presented additional operational risk to State Street and would limit the anticipated transaction benefits relative to original expectations.”

“It is disappointing that State Street’s inability to secure regulatory approval precluded the compelling vision that they brought to us,” added Bill Tyree, Managing Partner of BBH.

BBH has no other plans to sell the Investor Services unit at this time.

The agreement did not require State Street or BHH to pay any penalty in connection with the termination.