Money manager Natixis buying fixed income shop McDonnell

The logo of the French bank Natixis is seen in front its headquarters in Paris May 19, 2009.

(Reuters) - Natixis Global Asset Management said on Tuesday it struck a deal to acquire McDonnell Investment Management, a bond-focused firm based in a Chicago suburb.

McDonnell manages $13.5 billion of taxable fixed income and municipal bond assets. Natixis had $711 billion under management as of June 30. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Although Natixis already has several strong fixed income shops in its line-up, including Loomis Sayles & Co, the new acquisition fills a gap for managing municipal bonds, said John Hailer, president and chief executive of Natixis Global for the Americas and Asia.

The investment approach at McDonnell is much like that at Loomis Sayles, Hailer said, focusing on analyzing the quality of specific bond issuers. "They're completely focused in on credit research," he said. He declined to say how much Natixis paid for McDonnell.

McDonnell will continue to operate independently and remain headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, Natixis said in a statement. Dennis McDonnell and Edward Treichel opened the firm in 2001 after working for more than a decade at Van Kampen Management.

Natixis Global, based in Paris and Boston, is part of the Natixis SA (CNAT.PA) subsidiary of BPCE, the second-largest banking group in France.

(Reporting by Aaron Pressman; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and John Wallace)