US private equity firm buys roughly 25% stake in Canadian dealer
Wellington-Altus Financial Inc. announced today that it has closed the $400 million common equity investment announced late last year from US private equity firm Kelso & Company.
The transaction represents a roughly 25 per cent stake in Wellington-Altus, confirming the firm's valuation at over $1.5 billion CAD. The firm also recently announced $45 billion in assets under administration as well as 1,000 employees across Canada. According to a press release, 99 per cent of Wellington-Altus shareholders supported the sale.
"We are thrilled to officially welcome Kelso as our new strategic equity partner," said Shaun Hauser, Founder & CEO of Wellington-Altus. "The overwhelming support for the transaction shown by our shareholders is a tremendous validation of everything Wellington-Altus has built to date. And the best is still to come for our rocketship. We are not stopping here. We have grown to over 1,000 employees and our firm now has over $45 billion in assets under administration. Wellington-Altus is a driving force in Canada's wealth advisory industry, and we look forward to new growth milestones in the future."
The release states that advisors and employees are still the largest shareholder group in the firm and that Wellington-Altus is still majority Canadian-owned.
