Boston Private Financial Holdings said Wednesday it will sell its entire ownership stake in Boston-based Anchor Capital Advisors, one of its wealth management subsidiaries that manages over $9 billion in assets, in an effort to refocus its business.
Anchor will buy back the ownership interest from Boston Private, raising its current ownership stake in the company from 17 percent to 70 percent. The remaining 30 percent of the company will be held by an affiliate of Lincoln Peak Capital, a long-term equity partner for asset management firms.
“This transaction is consistent with our strategy of focusing resources in businesses where we can be our client’s most trusted advisor and offer holistic financial advice, along with integrated wealth management, trust and private banking capabilities,” Clayton G. Deutsch, CEO of Boston Private, said in a statement. “This transaction liberates capital for us to reinvest in a more focused company. In addition, we believe that management ownership is the right long-term solution for Anchor, allowing the entrepreneurial team that has driven Anchor’s success under Boston Private’s ownership to control the next phase of its growth and development.”
Boston Private will receive approximately $32 million of cash at closing and future revenue share payments that have a net present value of approximately $15 million, subject to purchase price adjustments. Boston Private currently estimates that the financial impact of the transaction will result in a non-cash pre-tax charge of approximately $25 million in the fourth quarter of 2017 and a tax expense of $11 million to $16 million at closing. The net financial impact will increase tier 1 common equity by approximately $30 million to $35 million.
Boston Private acquired its ownership stake in Anchor in 2006.
The wealth management arm has approximately $9.2 billion of assets under management and accounted for $24.7 million of revenue in Boston Private’s Investment Management segment, $19 million of operating expense and $1 million of non-controlling interest expense in Boston Private’s financial results during the first nine months of 2017.
The company’s overall wealth management division has struggled with negative net flows every quarter from 2014 through 2016. But in 2017, the division started to make a turnaround bringing in more money than it lost in each of the first three quarters of the year.
Total revenue in the wealth management and trust division has increased 7 percent year-over-year and 4 percent from the linked quarter, reflecting higher assets under management driven by market appreciation and improving net flows, according to Boston Private’s latest investor presentation.
Operating expenses have decreased 5 percent year-over-year and 2 percent from the linked quarter.
When Anchor Capital Advisors announced the deal, the company also announced in a statement of a leadership transition. Current CEO and Founder Bill Rice Sr. will become executive chairman and his son Bill Rice Jr. will takeover as CEO, while also continuing in his current role as CIO.
“The repurchase of our company by management realigns our corporate strategic vision with our core value investing philosophy of investing in strong, undervalued companies that have active management control and majority equity participation,” Bill Rice Sr. said in a statement.
Closing is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2018.