Willkie Advises TCW in Acquisition of Engine No. 1’s ETF Business

On July 25, Willkie client The TCW Group (TCW) announced its agreement to acquire investment firm Engine No.1’s exchange traded fund (ETF) business and infrastructure, including three ETFs.

Through the transaction, TCW is acquiring the entirety of Engine No. 1’s Transform ETF platform, which includes the Transform Climate ETF (Ticker: NETZ); Transform Supply Chain ETF (Ticker: SUPP); and the Transform 500 ETF (Ticker: VOTE) index fund. Combined, the Transform ETF platform manages more than $600 million in U.S. equity ETFs focused on supply chain onshoring, and energy transition. 

TCW is a leading global asset management firm with a broad range of products across fixed income, equities, emerging markets and alternative investments. TCW manages approximately $210 billion in client assets. Through the MetWest Funds and TCW Funds families, TCW manages one of the largest mutual fund complexes in the U.S. 

The Willkie team was led by partner Morgan McDevitt and included partners Jay Spinola and Eugene Chang and associates Devin Crisanti, Daniel Werb and Samuel Bolam.