Pimco in Negotiations to Sell Columbus Circle to Managers

Pimco Advisors Holdings LP is in talks to sell Columbus Circle Investors Inc. to five managing directors of the unit, which invests about $4.5 billion in stocks mostly for institutional clients, Columbus Circle’s chief executive said.

“We’re attempting to negotiate the [management buyout] by March 31,” said Donald Chiboucas, 54, who on Monday replaced Christopher Burnham as chief executive of Columbus Circle, which is based in Stamford, Conn.

Chiboucas, who is also the firm’s investment chief, said he and four other Columbus Circle managing directors will finance the buyout from Newport Beach-based Pimco. Columbus Circle has 40 employees, he said.

Columbus Circle was Pimco’s third-biggest affiliate, with about $9 billion in assets, before Pimco in January moved its mutual fund to a new affiliate, Pimco Equity Advisors. Columbus Circle’s institutional clients are pleased the firm is focusing on the institutional business, Chiboucas said.

Pimco officials didn’t return a call seeking comment. Burnham declined to comment on the management buyout talks.

Pimco shares fell 50 cents to $30.

Burnham, 42, said he’s leaving Columbus Circle to become vice chairman of Pimco Funds Distributors LLC, Pimco’s retail marketing arm. Burnham is starting his new job Thursday and will be responsible for building Pimco’s international mutual fund business. The Pimco Funds unit oversees about $48 billion of the more than $244 billion in assets managed by Pimco, the third-biggest U.S. publicly traded fund company.

Burnham served as Columbus Circle’s chief executive since 1997. He joined the firm after serving as Connecticut’s state treasurer.