Canada-based asset management firm CI Financial, which is aggressively buying out investment advisors registered in the United States, said on Thursday it would take its $133 billion US wealth management business public. The company announced plans to sell up to 20% of its US business through an initial public offering that would be a US-listed subsidiary of the publicly traded parent firm.
CI will file a Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission later this year. According to a statement, the company will use the proceeds of the IPO to pay off the debt. The firm will retain a majority interest in the US money business.
CI Financial first entered the US space in January 2020, when it acquired a majority stake in Phoenix-based RIA SureWest Wealth Management, and quickly followed it up with a majority stake in California-based $1.6 billion RIA One Capital. CI continued the fast pace of acquisitions; To date, it has made 32 deals in the United States.
The firm recently announced a deal from Morgan Stanley to buy a portion of Eaton Vance WaterOak Advisors’ wealth management business for a total value of approximately $11.4 billion. Once that acquisition closes, CI’s US wealth business will be worth about $133 billion in total assets.
“The growth in our US wealth management business is incredible; however, in our opinion, the value we have created is not reflected in our share price today,” said CI CEO Kurt McAlpine in a statement. After a thorough evaluation of options, we are confident that a US-listed subsidiary IPO is the best route to shareholder value creation. The US wealth management business now has sufficient scale to stand alone as a public company, providing access to customers and customers. Makes it an attractive, long-term destination for consultants. We believe it is the best way to realize our vision of becoming the leading ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth business in America.
CI Financial is using the US RIA market to fund its plans for globalization. In November 2020, CI began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CIXX. The firm issued its first bond in the US in December 2020.
Last September, CI Financial announced that it would open a US headquarters in Miami, leasing 20,000 square feet of office space in the city’s Brickell financial district. The office is expected to be completed this year and open in 2023.
