Gabelli Asset Management is continuing its Christmas shopping early this year. Today the Rye, New York-headquartered fund shop said it has entered into an agreement to acquire Woodland Partners, a Minneapolis-based equity manager. Last week the firm announced its intent to purchase hedge fund specialist Grove Investment Advisors.

Woodland is run by managing partners, Elizabeth M. Lilly and Richard W. Jensen and manages more than one $250 million for institutional, high net worth, and mutual fund clients. Lilly and Jenson formed Woodland Partners in 1996 after working together at First Asset Management, a division of US Bancorp.

Both partners will continue running Woodland's money management activities from Minneapolis as a division of Gabelli Asset Management. "We are very excited to be joining the Gabelli team," said Lilly.

"Our firm has had strong ties to the Minneapolis market place dating back to our firm's research efforts on such companies as Ecolab, Donaldson, Tennant, and General Mills. In addition, we have been managing assets for clients in the Twin Cities for over twenty years," said Mario J. Gabelli, chairman and chief executive officer of Gabelli Asset Management.

He added that the transaction offers us the unique opportunity to work within a firm that shares our focus on bottom-up stock picking and exceptional client service."  

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