The deal will add more than $221 billion in assets to TIAA-CREF's roughly $569 billion in assets under management, broadening its portfolio with closed-end municipal bond funds which offer regular, annuity-type payouts.

It also offers relief to Nuveen's current owner, private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC. Madison Dearborn will break even on the deal, according to a person close to the firm, having taken Nuveen private in 2007 for $5.8 billion and saddled it with debt that weighed on its earnings.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, pending approval from existing Nuveen clients and antitrust regulators.

Lazard Ltd (>> Lazard Ltd) and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (>> JPMorgan Chase & Co.) advised TIAA-CREF. Bank of America Merrill Lynch (>> Bank of America Corp), Wells Fargo Securities LLC (>> Wells Fargo & Co) and Citigroup Global Markets (>> Citigroup Inc) acted as financial advisors to Nuveen Investments. UBS Investment Bank (>> UBS AG), Goldman Sachs & Co (>> Goldman Sachs Group Inc) and Moelis & Co acted as financial advisors to the Nuveen management team.

(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)