Canaccord Genuity managers seek to take firm private for $1.13 billion

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A group comprised of members of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.’s management team are proposing to take over the company with an all-cash bid worth about $1.127 billion.

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The management-led group, which currently collectively owns around 21.3 per cent of shares, said the offer values the company at $11.25 per common share. It said this represents a 30.7 per cent premium for shareholders to the closing price of $8.61 per common share on Jan. 6 and a 41.9 per cent premium to the 20-day volume-weighted average price of $7.93 per common share on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the period ending on Jan. 6.

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The group includes the investment banking and financial services company’s president and chief executive, chairman, global operating committee and additional senior and tenured employees.

“The common shares, which naturally reflect the inherent volatility of the global capital markets in which the company operates have proven to be not well-suited for trading in a public marketplace,” Canaccord Genuity’s president and chief executive, Daniel Daviau, said in a press release on Monday.

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The company’s shares are down 42 per cent over the past year.

Daviau said after the completion of their offer, Canaccord Genuity would be able to focus its efforts solely on serving the best interests of its clients. Upon the transaction’s completion, all common shares will be indirectly held by the company and its subsidiaries’ officers and employees. The group said its executive leadership, management, underlying corporate structure and operations are not expected to materially change.

Canaccord Genuity has been growing its wealth management business. In October 2021, its U.K. division completed the acquisition of the private client investment management business of Adam & Company, which commences its entry into the Scottish market.

By the end of 2021, it completed its acquisition of Sawaya Partners, a leading independent mergers and acquisitions advisory firm to the consumer sector based in New York. Last year, its U.K. wealth management business also acquired Punter Southall Wealth Limited.

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