Praemium, the Australian portfolio administration firm, has taken over the ownership of the separately managed account business of BlackRock Investment Management.

The deal requires Praemium to fund around A$500,000 (US$523,000) of expenses, including regulator approvals, legal expenses, IT costs and marketing and rebranding efforts associated with the takeover. The Australian firm will also take on BlackRock's existing operations team.

Praemium has been active on acquisitions in the past weeks, most recently purchasing WealthCraft Systems for A$625,000 plus two million fully paid ordinary shares in the firm.

The transaction with BlackRock, which is still subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.