Aston Hill Financial Inc. has just completed its acquisition of an 80% interest in the closed-end fund business of Connor, Clark & Lunn Capital Markets Inc.
Following the acquisition, Connor, Clark & Lunn Capital Markets Inc. has been renamed Aston Hill Capital Markets Inc. The resulting company currently manages or provides advisory services to 14 closed-end funds and seven reference funds listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The acquisition increases Aston Hill’s assets under management and advisory to approximately $7.8 billion from approximately $6.6 billion.
The previous principals of Connor, Clark & Lunn Capital Markets, Neil Murdoch and Darren Cabral, continue to hold a 20% interest in Aston Hill and will continue to conduct the business.
Aston Hill has an option to acquire—and Murdoch and Cabral have an option to sell—the remaining 20% interest after three years.
Before completing the acquisition, Connor, Clark & Lunn Capital Markets assigned the management agreement of one conventional mutual fund to an affiliate of Connor, Clark & Lunn Financial Group Ltd. As a result, the acquisition related exclusively to the closed-end fund business of Connor, Clark & Lunn Capital Markets.
With the closure of the acquisition, 15,300,000 subscription receipts issued by Aston Hill on Aug. 7, 2013, have been exchanged for an equal number of common shares of Aston Hill. The net proceeds from this offering have been released to Aston Hill in order to satisfy the purchase price for the acquisition.
Also, an amount equal to $0.0125 per subscription receipt in respect of the dividends declared on each common share by Aston Hill on Aug. 1, 2013, has become payable in respect of each subscription receipt so exchanged. This amount will be paid together with the payment of Aston Hill’s dividend to all holders of common shares on Aug. 23, 2013.
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