CI Financial says it intends to sell up to 20% of its U.S. wealth management business through a U.S. initial public offering later this year and has not yet filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The news comes a week after CI Financial, which is based in Toronto and Miami, said it was buying the wealth management business of RIA Eaton Vance WaterOak Advisors from Morgan Stanley; this deal involved $11.4 billion of client assets and operations formerly doing business as Eaton Vance Investment Counsel, or EVIC, of Boston.
Once this transaction is wrapped up, the assets on CI's RIA platform in the U.S. — CI Private Wealth — are expected to be about $133 billion, according to the firm, which has made 30-plus acquisitions since 2020.
"The growth in our U.S. wealth management business is incredible; however, in our opinion, the value we have created isn't reflected in our share price today," said CI Financial CEO Kurt MacAlpine, in a statement. "After a thorough evaluation of our strategic options, we are confident that a U.S.-listed subsidiary IPO is the best route to shareholder value creation."