MONTREAL and LONDON, April 3,
2019 /PRNewswire/ --
/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS
WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE
UNITED STATES/
Fiera Capital Corporation (TSX: FSZ) ("Fiera Capital" or
the "Firm"), a leading independent asset management firm,
announced today that it completed its previously announced
acquisition of an 80% interest in Palmer Capital Partners Limited
("Palmer Capital"), a leading UK focused real estate investment
manager, based in London, UK. The
acquisition was made through Fiera Properties Limited ("Fiera
Properties"), Fiera Capital's dedicated real estate investment
platform, which provides direct real estate investment
opportunities to institutional investors, foundation and endowment
clients, and high net worth individuals.
Palmer Capital, founded in 1992, has over £800 million in assets
under management with an additional £260 million managed through
the joint ventures of eight regional property companies in which it
is a minority shareholder (as at December
31, 2018). It will remain independently managed but will
become the UK arm of Fiera Properties, part of Fiera Capital's
alternative asset offerings. Ray
Palmer, the founder of Palmer Capital, will remain the
Executive Chairman and Alex Price,
Chief Executive Officer, will continue to run the day to day
strategy and operations of the business.
This acquisition marks Fiera Capital's first acquisition of a
real estate investment management business outside of Canada and its second acquisition in the UK
market following its acquisition of boutique fund manager
Charlemagne Capital in 2017. Expanding globally, in March 2018 Fiera Capital increased its presence
in Asia with the acquisition of
Clearwater Capital Partners.
Under the terms of the purchase agreement for the acquisition,
the 80% interest acquired by Fiera Capital has an equity value of
£40 million and an enterprise value of £30 million. Of the purchase
price payable by Fiera Capital, which remains subject to
post-closing price adjustments, £10 million was paid by the
issuance of 1,430,036 Class A Subordinate Voting Shares of Fiera
Capital ("Fiera Capital Class A Shares"), issued at a price of
$12.3038, determined using the volume
weighted average price of the Fiera Capital Class A Shares on the
Toronto Stock Exchange for the period of 10 consecutive trading
days preceding the date that is two business days prior to closing.
The Palmer Capital management shareholders retain a 20% equity
interest in Palmer Capital.
The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive, adding
single digit accretion to adjusted earnings per share within the
first full year post-closing.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These
statements relate to future events and reflect management's
expectations or beliefs regarding such future events, based on
information currently available to management. In some cases,
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"may", "will", "plans", "believes", "expects", "aims", "intends",
"anticipates", "estimates", "projects" or words or terms of similar
substance or the negative thereof.
With respect to management expectations regarding accretion
resulting from this transaction in 2019, financial performance is
based on information available to management and certain
assumptions, including the accuracy of Palmer Capital's financial
statements, the level of Palmer Capital assets under management
retained following the acquisition, as well as assumptions
regarding the growth in Palmer Capital assets under management and
realization of synergies. Actual results could differ depending on
a number of factors, including the ability to retain key personnel
following the acquisition, the ability to retain clients and assets
under management following the acquisition and general market
conditions.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve
inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and a
number of factors could cause actual events or results to differ
materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking
statements. In evaluating these statements, readers should
specifically consider various factors that may cause actual results
to differ materially from any forward-looking statement. These
factors include, but are not limited to, market and general
economic conditions, the nature of the financial services industry,
and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in Fiera
Capital's interim and annual consolidated financial statements, and
its Annual Report and Annual Information Form filed
on http://www.sedar.com. These forward-looking statements are
made as of the date of this document, and Fiera Capital assumes no
obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or
circumstances.
Non-IFRS Measures
This press release makes reference to adjusted earnings per
share (EPS) of Fiera Capital, which is a non-IFRS measure. Adjusted
EPS is not a recognized measure under IFRS, does not have a
standardized meaning under IFRS and is unlikely to be comparable to
similar measures used by other companies. The rational for the use
of the non-IFRS measures is presented in Fiera Capital's
Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A), which is available
on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com.
About Fiera Capital Corporation
Fiera Capital is a leading independent asset management firm
with approximately C$136.7 billion in
assets under management as of December 31,
2018. The Firm provides institutional, retail and private
wealth clients with access to full-service integrated money
management solutions across traditional and alternative asset
classes. Clients and their portfolios derive benefit from Fiera
Capital's depth of expertise, diversified offerings and outstanding
service. Fiera Capital trades under the ticker FSZ on the Toronto
Stock Exchange. http://www.fieracapital.com
In the U.S., asset management services are provided by the
Firm's U.S. affiliates who are investment advisers that are
registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Registration with the SEC does not imply a certain level of skill
or training.
Additional information about Fiera Capital Corporation,
including the Firm's annual information form, is available on SEDAR
at http://www.sedar.com.
About Fiera Properties Limited
Fiera Properties is a leading Canadian real estate investment
management firm that provides direct real estate investment
opportunities to institutional investors, foundation and endowment
clients, and high net worth investors.
As at December 31, 2018, Fiera
Properties had C$3.2 billion of
assets under management, which includes the Fiera Properties CORE
Fund, the Fiera Properties GTA Opportunity Fund, the Fiera
Properties CORE Mortgage Fund, Fiera Properties Opportunities Funds
(Funds I, II and Mezzanine) and segregated accounts. Through direct
investment in exceptional real estate across Canada, Fiera Properties offers strategies
that produce stable, growing income as well as capital
appreciation. Strategies are comprised of institutional-grade
retail, office, industrial and multi-residential properties in all
major markets in Canada.
For further information, including information about real estate
assets the firm has invested in, please visit
http://www.fieraproperties.com. This release is for informational
purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to
buy securities of any entity.
About Palmer Capital
Palmer Capital is a UK focused real estate investment management
company with over £800 million in AUM as at December 31, 2018. Founded in 1992, the company
has approximately 27 years of experience in direct real estate.
The business has two distinct divisions - minority shareholdings
in eight regional property companies and the fund management of
pooled and segregated property vehicles. Palmer Capital's AUM is
split 53% in Enhanced Return strategies and 47% in Core. Palmer
Capital has 29 staff within its headquarters based in London and a further 48 people located across
the UK within the firm's regional property companies.
Contacts:
Mariem Elsayed, Director
Investors Relations and Public Affairs
Fiera Capital Corporation
+1-514-954-6619
melsayed@fieracapital.com
Media contacts:
United Kingdom &
Europe
Ged Brumby
Smithfield
+44-20-3047-2527
gbrumby@smithfieldgroup.com
Emily Cullen
Smithfield
+44-20-3047-2530
ecullen@smithfieldgroup.com
North America
Kaitlyn Nightingale
Edelman
+1-416-849-3147
kaitlyn.nightingale@edelman.com