Canadian asset manager Fiera Capital has announced an agreement has been reached for a cash transaction including the full acquisition of emerging markets boutique Charlemagne Capital and the payment of a special dividend by Charlemagne Capital.
If completed, the deal will provide Fiera Capital with an entry into the emerging and frontier markets asset class and create a European platform to boost the growth and distribution of Fiera Capital’s existing investment funds.
“Under the terms of the Transaction, Charlemagne Capital shareholders will be entitled to receive 14 pence in cash in aggregate for each Charlemagne Capital share. The 14 pence is composed of 11 pence in cash for each Charlemagne Capital share and a special dividend of 3 pence per Charlemagne Capital share conditional on the Scheme becoming effective,” Fiera Capital said.
The 11 pence per share to be paid by Fiera Capital together with the special dividend of 3 pence per share, values the transaction at approximately £40.7m, the firm specified.
“The acquisition of Charlemagne Capital would be an important step in advancing our global presence by teaming up with a high quality emerging and frontier markets specialist, with an excellent track record of performance, a proven team of investment professionals and a strong culturally aligned management team,” said Jean-Guy Desjardins, chairman and CEO of Fiera Capital.
“The addition of emerging and frontier markets strategies to our strong global offering in equities would benefit our clients who are consistently looking for diversification opportunities,” he added.
Jayne Sutcliffe, Chief Executive Officer of Charlemagne Capital, commented : “Fiera Capital is a performance driven, client-focused firm with a strong emphasis on teamwork. As such, Fiera Capital has committed to preserve and support the culture and infrastructure of Charlemagne Capital. Our board believes that this transaction is an excellent solution for our broad range of institutional and wealth management investors, who will benefit from being part of Fiera Capital with its complementary culture, financial strength and North American distribution network. In our view, as the fund management industry evolves, investors will increasingly take comfort from entrusting assets with a firm which has a strong balance sheet, diversified product offering and global distribution.”
Charlemagne Capital was founded in 2000 and has currently assets under management in excess of $2bn (€1.78bn).
Fiera Capital has C$109bn (€74bn) of assets under management.