ETF Securities Hires Goldman to Manage Sale, FT Reports

ETF Securities, the London-based ETF issuer most known for its commodities funds, has hired Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to manage a sale of the company that could be worth up to $1.6 billion, according to the Financial Times.

Earlier this year, there was speculation ETF Securities found Graham Tuckwell might be mulling a sale or an IPO of his firm, which now lists more than 200 exchange-traded products on various global exchanges.

In the U.S., ETF Securities has seven ETFs with over $2.8 billion in assets under management, according to the firm's Web site. Overall, the company has $28.2 billion in AUM.

The FT article credits Tuckwell with helping the World Gold Council introduce the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD), the world's second-largest ETF by assets, in 2004.

Among ETF Securities' more popular U.S.-listed funds are the ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSE: SGOL), the ETFS Physical Silver Shares (NYSE: SIVR), the ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: PALL) and the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: PPLT).