Fiera Capital on Thursday announced it acquired private debt manager Centria Commerce for C$33 million ($25 million) in a cash-and-stock deal.
Centria manages C$325 million in assets in construction, real estate and short-term business financing, mostly for Fiera clients in Quebec. It will be rebranded as Fiera Private Lending.
Centria was acquired from DJM Capital, which is 80% owned by Jean-Guy Desjardins, chairman and CEO of Fiera Capital. The remainder is owned by Fiera board member Jean C. Monty. Mr. Desjardins founded Centria in 2002, one year before he created Fiera Capital, said Daniel Richard, Fiera spokesman. The two firms had been operating independently.
As a related-party transaction, an independent committee of Fiera board members, as well as legal and financial advisers, was appointed prior to the acquisition to review the deal, Mr. Richard said.
Jean Gamache, president and chief operating officer of Centria, will retain his title at Fiera Private Lending, Mr. Richard said.
The Centria deal follows the Nov. 3 announcement of the creation of Fiera Comox Partners, a joint venture between Fiera and partners led by Antoine Bisson-McLernon, former managing director and head of natural resources and private equity at PSP Investments, Montreal. Also, Fiera on Sept. 30 announced it would acquire London-based emerging markets equity manager Charlemagne Capital. That deal is pending regulatory review.
Also on Thursday, Fiera announced its assets under management rose 3.1% in the third quarter to C$112.5 billion as of Sept. 30.
