ALLIANCE CAPITAL, 56% subsidiary of AXA FINANCIAL, the US subsidiary of French insurance company AXA, has acquired the fund management company SANFORD BERNSTEIN (with assets of 85 billion dollars) for 3.5 billion dollars. A new company will be creased which will manage approximately 479 billion dollars of assets with an annual turnover to the tune of 3.2 bil dollars and a 4,000-strong workforce.