Privately held institutional money manager Guggenheim Partners has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Lisle, Ill.-based exchange-traded funds provider Claymore Securities Inc.

The acquisition covers all aspects of Claymore’s operations, including Claymore Investments in Canada, Claymore Advisors and Claymore Securities in the U.S. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Claymore was the 13^th-largest U.S. ETF provider as of June 30, according to the National Stock Exchange. It currently offers 35 ETFs with more than $1.6 billion in assets under management. Its largest fund is the Claymore/BNY BRIC ETF (NYSEArca: EEB), with $740 million in assets.

In Canada, Claymore has over $2 billion in ETF assets under management.

Claymore also offers closed-end funds and unit investment trusts, and had $12.9 billion in total assets under its supervision at the end of the first quarter.

“This puts us on a new playing field in terms of having more resources and the power of a worldwide recognized brand,” said Christian Magoon, president of Claymore Securities and the head of its ETF operations. “We’ve never been able to compete on a resource standpoint with a company like BGI or Vanguard. This agreement will allow us to launch more products, do more with our existing product line, and potentially look at other ETF or mutual fund players that may make interesting acquisitions.”

For Guggenheim, the Claymore acquisition should allow the institutionally focused firm to extend its reach into a retail audience.

The deal is a sign of an emerging trend of acquisitions in the ETF space.

In June, asset management giant BlackRock Inc. acquired Barclays Global Investors, parent company of iShares, the largest family of ETFs in the world (see related story here).

On a conference call earlier today, WisdomTree Investments (Other OTC: WSDT.PK) CEO Jonathan Steinberg said that the iShares acquisition has increased buyout interest in his ETF firm.

“We haven't had any formal offers for the company,” said Steinberg. “But there definitely has been an increase in activity...”

See related story here.

The Claymore deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is not expected to close until later this year.