Dubai: One of Abu Dhabi’s biggest investment entities, ADQ, will take a stake in Sagard, which has $14.5 billion as assets under management and as many as 125 portfolio companies. Joining ADQ is the Bank of Montreal, which is the eighth-largest bank in North America in terms of assets.
The deal making in Sagard will also see an existing shareholder, Great-West Lifeco, raise its stake further. “ADQ, BMO and GWL have agreed to invest capital to drive Sagard’s future growth, including through M&A transactions,” said a statement.
Abu Dhabi investment powerhouses ADQ and Mubadala continue to make headway in raising their profile overseas. The movement has also seen the likes of the UAE telecom holding company e& become the biggest shareholder in UK's Vodafone and more recently entering an alliance with Czech group PPF for possible forays into European markets.
These entities have ‘agreed with Sagard to make respective commitments of additional long-term capital’ to its existing and future investment strategies, ‘strengthening fundraising potential and accelerating the firm’s ability to launch new products’.
“Sagard’s entrepreneurial ability to mobilize investment talent, launch new differentiated strategies and deliver concrete results has attracted us to partner with them,” said Murtaza Hussain, Chief Investment Officer, M&A and Alternative Investments at ADQ. “Their commitment to leveraging their global network to be a value-added partner to ADQ is clear, and we are excited to support their growth going forward.”
The transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of the year.
North America focus
Launched in 2005, Sagard's primary exposure remains in US and Canada. The deal with ADQ-Bank of Montreal could expand the scope of future investments, including on geography.
"These strategic partnerships will significantly accelerate our vision of becoming one of the most respected alternative investment management firms globally," said Paul Desmarais III, Chairman and CEO of Sagard. "Strategic partner capital enables us to attract high-quality investment teams, launch new investment strategies, and fundraise more rapidly. In addition, this will expand our global network, making us even stronger business partners for our portfolio companies. We’re very excited to unlock this tremendous potential.”
