Canaccord ties up £185m acquisition of Genuity
CANACCORD Financial yesterday completed its $285.9m (£185m) acquisition of Canadian advisory firm Genuity Capital Markets, a move the firm expects will boost its business across Canada, North America and the UK.
Canaccord, which operates London-based broking subsidiary Canaccord Adams, has paid 26.5m of its own shares for Genuity, in addition to $30m of cash and up to $28m as a “working capital adjustment”.
Genuity chief executive David Kassie becomes co-chairman of the enlarged group, which has been renamed Canaccord Genuity, alongside Canaccord founder Peter Brown.
Genuity was founded in 2005 and employs some 135 staff. It is the leading independent adviser in Canada, having acted as lead manager on 13 underwriting transactions in 2009 with an average deal size of $109m.
Giles Fitzpatrick, the president of Canaccord Adams, said the deal would improve the firm’s advisory and restructuring offering, as well as allowing the UK arm to raise funds for its clients in North America.