Credit Suisse Mulls Buy of Hedge Fund Firm

ZURICH (TheStreet) -- Swiss bank Credit Suisse(CS Quote) is in discussions to acquire Mesirow Advanced Strategies, the hedge fund arm of Chicago-based trading and advisory firm Mesirow Financial, a report says.

The Wall Street Journal says Mesirow places client money in hedge funds and has about $11 billion in assets. The deal would nearly double the $14.5 billion in assets Credit Suisse currently oversees that it farms out to a wide range of external hedge funds.

The talks are ongoing and an agreement hasn't been reached, the Journal reports, citing people briefed on the matter. Credit Suisse and Mesirow spokespeople declined to comment for the newspaper.

Mesirow's hedge fund unit makes up about one-third of the assets managed by the firm, which also has holdings in real estate, commodities and private-equity funds, the Journal notes.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York .

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