Natixis Investment Managers will sell all of the 10.68 million Class A subordinate voting shares it holds in Fiera Capital, a news release from the two companies late Wednesday said.
The shares will be sold through two transactions set to close on Friday.
Natixis agreed to sell or cancel the 3.56 million of Fiera Class A shares it owns to Fiera for an aggregate repurchase price of C$34.9 million (US$27.6 million). Natixis also will pay Fiera a transaction fee, the release said.
The first deal is conditional on the closing of the second transaction for the sale of 7.12 million shares through a syndicate led by RBC Capital Markets, the release said.
Natixis acquired the Fiera shares in May 2019 — an 11% stake in the company — for C$128 million from National Bank of Canada and DJM Capital as part of a long-term strategic distribution agreement. Fiera became the preferred distributor in Canada of Natixis' investment strategies. The distribution agreement was for five years with an initial three-year renewal.
The distribution agreement will continue despite Natixis' sale of Fiera shares, the two parties said in the release.
The reason for Natixis' decision to sell its block of Fiera shares came after a review of the firm's capital allocation priorities, said Alex-Anne Carrier, a Fiera spokeswoman, in an interview.
"We are pleased to continue our strategic distribution with Fiera Capital," said Tim Ryan, Natixis Investment Managers CEO, in the release, adding, "divesting our shares in Fiera Capital will provide us with additional flexibility to allocate capital in line with our long-term strategic priorities."
"Value creation by way of strategic and efficient capital allocation decisions is a fundamental pillar of Fiera Capital's strategy. Accordingly, purchasing shares from Natixis Investment Managers represents a unique opportunity for us to buy back our shares at an attractive price," said Jean-Guy Desjardins, Fiera's executive chairman, in the release.
As of Sept. 30, Fiera managed C$180.8 billion and Natixis Investment Managers had US$1.39 trillion.
