Clearwater acquired by listed Canadian asset manager

According to a statement, Fiera will pay $21 million at closing, comprising $12 million in cash and $9 million in Class A subordinate voting shares, and will pay additional payment and earnout considerations of up to $44 million over the next five years based on the achievement of financial milestones. Co-founders Robert Petty (pictured) and Amit Gupta will remain with Clearwater as co-CEOs and co-CIOs.

Fiera’s shares will be issued at the aggregate volume-weighted average price for the previous 30 consecutive trading days prior to the closing. Additional shares issued as earnout consideration will be at the five-day aggregate volume-weighted share price. The deal is expected to close in the next few months, subject to regulatory approval.

The purchase is intended to combine Fiera’s global distribution capabilities with Clearwater’s investment experience in Asia, particularly credit and special situations. Clearwater has offices in Hong Kong, Chongqing, Singapore, Seoul and Mumbai – in addition to one in the US – and has invested more than $5.1 billion since its founding in 2001 while exiting over $5.8 billion. Currently it has $1.5 billion in assets under management.

Clearwater is currently raising its fifth fund, which launched in 2016 with a target of $650 million and partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) earlier this year to jointly invest $150 million in distressed assets in Asia. The firm invests in Asian companies across a range of sectors that are fundamentally sound but held back by poorly-performing assets. It also offers direct lending services in China and India through non-banking finance company Altico, whihc was founded alongside Värde Partners in 2004.

"We are proud to choose a partner that supports our investment independence, and also celebrates our culture, entrepreneurship, and risk adjusted approach to building diversified portfolios while mentoring best-in-class talent across our business,” said Petty and Gupta. “Joining Fiera Capital is the clear next step to grow our business and continue to provide profitable and innovative alternative investment solutions to even more clients around the world."

Fiera provides money management solutions across traditional and alternative asset classes for a range of institutional, retail and private wealth clients. The firm had about C$129 billion ($100 billion) in assets under management as of December 2017. In its most recent annual report Fiera recorded C$344 million in revenue for 2016, up from C$258 million the year before. Over the same period net profit dropped from C$26 million to C$18 million.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• South Asia
• Buyouts
• Credit/Special Situations
• GPs
• Hong Kong (China)
• Clearwater Capital Partners