Kirkland Advises Engine No. 1 on Sale of ETF Business to TCW Group

Kirkland & Ellis advised Engine No. 1, a San Francisco-based investment firm, on the sale of its exchange traded fund (ETF) business and its infrastructure to the TCW Group, a leading global asset management firm. Through the transaction, TCW is acquiring the entirety of Engine No. 1’s Transform ETF platform, which includes the active, thematic 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. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023, subject to shareholder approval.

Read the transaction press release

The Kirkland team was led by corporate partners Kyle Watson and Jonathan Benloulou and associates Gabrielle Sumich and Daly Brower; investment funds partners Nicole Runyan and Pamela Chen; tax partner Anne Kim; technology & IP transactions partner Amber Harezlak; and executive compensation partner Rob Fowler.