SEC Company Response from EVERGREEN MONEY MARKET TRUST (CIK 0000820636) — Feb 10, 2005
EVERGREEN MONEY MARKET TRUST (CIK 0000820636)
Date: Feb. 10, 2005 · CIK: 0000820636 · Accession: 0000907244-05-000048
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-121403, 333-121404, 333-121412, 333-121413, 333-121414, 333-121441, 811-08363, 811-08365, 811-08367, 811-08413, 811-08555
Letter
February 10, 2005 James O'Connor Division of Investment Management U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 901 E Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20004
RE: Evergreen Select Equity Trust, File Nos. 811-08363 and 333-121413 Evergreen Select Fixed Income Trust (2), File Nos. 811-08365 and 333-121414 and 333-121441 Evergreen Money Market Trust, File Nos. 811-08555 and 333-121412 Evergreen Equity Trust, File Nos. 811-08413 and 333-121404 Evergreen Municipal Trust, File Nos. 811-08367 and 333-121403 (the "Registrants)
Dear Mr. O'Connor:
In connection with the Registration Statements on Form N-14AE filed by the Registrants on December 17 and 20, 2005, relating to the proposed mergers of various SouthTrust Funds (the "Funds") into certain Evergreen funds, I am responding on behalf of the Registrants to your question of whether an assignment of the investment advisory agreements for the Funds occurred when SouthTrust Corporation ("SouthTrust"), the parent to the Funds' investment advisor, merged into Wachovia Corporation ("Wachovia"). For your reference, the dates of the filings, the funds involved, the accession numbers and the file numbers of the six filings are as follows: <TABLE> <CAPTION> --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- Date of Filing Accession Target Fund Survivor Fund Number File Nos. <S> <C> <C> <C> <C> --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- 12/17/04 SouthTrust Growth Fund Evergreen Strategic Growth Fund 0000907244-04-000373 333-121413 --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- 12/17/04 SouthTrust Income Fund Evergreen Short Intermediate Bond 0000907244-04-000374 333-121414 Fund --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- 12/17/04 SouthTrust US Treasury Evergreen Treasury Money Market Fund 0000907244-04-000372 333-121412 Money Market Fund --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- 12/17/04 SouthTrust Value Fund Evergreen Disciplined Value Fund1 0000907244-04-000370 333-121404
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- 12/17/04 SouthTrust Alabama Tax Free Evergreen Alabama Municipal Bond 0000907244-04-000369 333-121403 Income Fund Fund1 --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- 12/20/04 SouthTrust Bond Fund Evergreen Core Bond Fund 0000907244-04-000377 333-121441 --------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------- </TABLE> Comment: Explain why the merger of the SouthTrust, the holding company parent to the Funds' investment advisor, on November 1, 2004 (the "Merger") did not cause the assignment of the advisory agreements for the Funds.
Response: SouthTrust, Wachovia, and the Registrants were satisfied, on the basis of, among other things, Dean Witter, Discover & Co., Morgan Stanley Group Inc. (pub.avail. April 18, 1997) ("the Dean Witter Letter"), that no assignment of the advisory agreements for the Funds would occur as a result of the Merger for purposes of Section 2(a)(4) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. The factors considered in this analysis included, among others, that (i) SouthTrust and Wachovia were both publicly traded holding companies with widely dispersed groups of public and institutional shareholders; (ii) no single shareholder or group of shareholders owned more than 5% of the outstanding common stock of SouthTrust or Wachovia at the time of the Merger and there was no shareholder presumptively controlling or actually controlling SouthTrust or Wachovia at the time of the Merger; (iii) the investment adviser to the Funds would continue to exist following the Merger as a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of a widely held public company with no controlling shareholder. (Please note that, because the merger of the Funds' investment adviser into Wachovia Bank on January 3, 2005 may be seen to have resulted in an assignment of the Funds' advisory agreements, new investment advisory agreements were implemented for the Funds at that time pursuant to Rule 15a-4.) <PAGE> Although it was contemplated in 2004 that at a later date there would be a merger of Wachovia Bank with SouthTrust Bank and its division that was the investment adviser of the Funds, the mere contemplation of such a merger did not constitute a change of control of the adviser to the Funds. Therefore, according to the reasoning in the Dean Witter Letter, there was no change in control of the investment adviser to the Funds before the merger of the two banks on January 3, 2005, nor any assignment of the investment advisory agreement before that date.
Please feel free to call me at (617) 210-3682 if you have any questions or would like any additional information. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
/s/ Maureen E. Towle
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<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>filename1.txt
<TEXT>
February 10, 2005
James O'Connor
Division of Investment Management
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
901 E Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
RE: Evergreen Select Equity Trust, File Nos. 811-08363 and 333-121413
Evergreen Select Fixed Income Trust (2), File Nos. 811-08365 and
333-121414 and 333-121441
Evergreen Money Market Trust, File Nos. 811-08555 and 333-121412
Evergreen Equity Trust, File Nos. 811-08413 and 333-121404
Evergreen Municipal Trust, File Nos. 811-08367 and 333-121403
(the "Registrants)
Dear Mr. O'Connor:
In connection with the Registration Statements on Form N-14AE filed by the
Registrants on December 17 and 20, 2005, relating to the proposed mergers of
various SouthTrust Funds (the "Funds") into certain Evergreen funds, I am
responding on behalf of the Registrants to your question of whether an
assignment of the investment advisory agreements for the Funds occurred when
SouthTrust Corporation ("SouthTrust"), the parent to the Funds' investment
advisor, merged into Wachovia Corporation ("Wachovia"). For your reference, the
dates of the filings, the funds involved, the accession numbers and the file
numbers of the six filings are as follows:
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
Date of Filing Accession
Target Fund Survivor Fund Number File Nos.
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C>
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
12/17/04 SouthTrust Growth Fund Evergreen Strategic Growth Fund 0000907244-04-000373 333-121413
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
12/17/04 SouthTrust Income Fund Evergreen Short Intermediate Bond 0000907244-04-000374 333-121414
Fund
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
12/17/04 SouthTrust US Treasury Evergreen Treasury Money Market Fund 0000907244-04-000372 333-121412
Money Market Fund
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
12/17/04 SouthTrust Value Fund Evergreen Disciplined Value Fund1 0000907244-04-000370 333-121404
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
12/17/04 SouthTrust Alabama Tax Free Evergreen Alabama Municipal Bond 0000907244-04-000369 333-121403
Income Fund Fund1
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
12/20/04 SouthTrust Bond Fund Evergreen Core Bond Fund 0000907244-04-000377 333-121441
--------------- ----------------------------- -------------------------------------- --------------------- --------------
</TABLE>
Comment: Explain why the merger of the SouthTrust, the holding company
parent to the Funds' investment advisor, on November 1, 2004
(the "Merger") did not cause the assignment of the advisory
agreements for the Funds.
Response: SouthTrust, Wachovia, and the Registrants were satisfied, on
the basis of, among other things, Dean Witter, Discover & Co.,
Morgan Stanley Group Inc. (pub.avail. April 18, 1997)
("the Dean Witter Letter"), that no assignment of the advisory
agreements for the Funds would occur as a result of the Merger
for purposes of Section 2(a)(4) of the Investment Company Act
of 1940, as amended. The factors considered in this analysis
included, among others, that (i) SouthTrust and Wachovia were
both publicly traded holding companies with widely dispersed
groups of public and institutional shareholders; (ii) no
single shareholder or group of shareholders owned more
than 5% of the outstanding common stock of SouthTrust or
Wachovia at the time of the Merger and there was no
shareholder presumptively controlling or actually controlling
SouthTrust or Wachovia at the time of the Merger; (iii) the
investment adviser to the Funds would continue to exist
following the Merger as a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of
a widely held public company with no controlling shareholder.
(Please note that, because the merger of the Funds' investment
adviser into Wachovia Bank on January 3, 2005 may be seen to
have resulted in an assignment of the Funds' advisory
agreements, new investment advisory agreements were
implemented for the Funds at that time pursuant to
Rule 15a-4.)
<PAGE>
Although it was contemplated in 2004 that at a later date
there would be a merger of Wachovia Bank with SouthTrust Bank
and its division that was the investment adviser of the Funds,
the mere contemplation of such a merger did not constitute a
change of control of the adviser to the Funds. Therefore,
according to the reasoning in the Dean Witter Letter, there
was no change in control of the investment adviser to the
Funds before the merger of the two banks on January 3, 2005,
nor any assignment of the investment advisory agreement before
that date.
Please feel free to call me at (617) 210-3682 if you have any questions
or would like any additional information. Thank you for your time and attention
to this matter.
Sincerely,
/s/ Maureen E. Towle
Maureen E. Towle
Legal Department
Evergreen Investments
cc: David Mahaffey, Esq.
Cam Avery, Esq.
</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>