Acquisition Expected to Make State Street Leading Hedge Fund Administrator Globally State Street Corporation (NYSE:

), one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, announced today that it has agreed to acquire Goldman Sachs Administration Services (GSAS), a leading hedge fund administrator, from The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:

) in a cash transaction with a total purchase price of $550 million, subject to certain adjustments. Pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to be finalized early in the fourth quarter of 2012. State Street expects the transaction to be accretive in the first full year of operation on a cash basis. Through dedicated teams globally, State Street provides a comprehensive suite of middle office, fund administration, risk analytics and credit services to hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds and institutional investors. State Street's Alternative Investment Solutions (AIS) team has more than 3,000 employees in multiple offices around the world. A premier global service provider to hedge funds, GSAS administers approximately $200 billion in single manager hedge fund assets on behalf of approximately 150 investment manager clients from locations across the globe. GSAS employees, including client-facing staff and the management team, are expected to join State Street following the close of the transaction. The transaction does not include Goldman Sachs' Prime Brokerage business, which remains an important offering of Goldman Sachs.