Goldman Sachs $GS agrees Neos acquisition worth up to $2.3B

Goldman Sachs ($GS) agreed to acquire Neos Investments in a cash-and-equity transaction worth up to $2.3 billion. The price clears the finance-crawler's $500 million Tier-1 threshold by more than four times. Neos manages about $32 billion across nearly two dozen options-based income ETFs, adding a fast-growing active-ETF platform to Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

The Neos announcement confirms that the firm will join Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Co-founders Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella are expected to become Goldman partners after completion, and the rest of the Neos team is expected to transfer with them. That personnel structure preserves the investment team behind the existing funds during integration.

The Financial Times report placed the maximum consideration at $2.3 billion. A Bloomberg-sourced Yahoo Finance report specified up to $2.25 billion in cash and equity and estimated Neos assets at $32 billion. The difference reflects rounding in the headline figure; both reports describe the same transaction and value it above $2.2 billion.

Goldman would reach approximately $130 billion of ETF assets after closing. Neos, founded in 2022, built its franchise around actively managed funds that combine index exposure with options-based income strategies. The acquisition expands Goldman's share of the active-ETF market and adds products used by retail and advisory clients for monthly distributions and option overlays.

The deal also creates overlapping product questions. Goldman already offers active income ETFs, while Neos operates funds including SPYI and QQQI. The official announcement does not state that fund names, mandates or expense ratios will change. Any combination of products, fee revisions or strategy changes would require separate disclosures, so those outcomes should not be inferred from the acquisition agreement.

Completion conditions and timing are the next items to watch. Investors should monitor regulatory approvals, the final mix of cash and equity consideration, and updated assets under management at closing. The key operating test will be whether Goldman retains Neos's inflows and portfolio team while integrating distribution, compliance and back-office functions into its asset-management platform.

Not investment advice. Verify all figures with primary sources before acting.