CI Financial acquires $5.2 billion Portola Partners

Toronto-based aggregator CI Financial is acquiring Portola Partners, a $5.2 billion registered investment adviser based in Menlo Park, California.

The deal, which expands CI’s footprint in the San Francisco Bay area, will give the Canadian buyer approximately $82 billion in U.S. wealth management assets and push its global assets to about $263 billion.

The transaction is CI’s 17th deal and 21st acquisition, including sub-acquisitions, since it entered the U.S. market in early 2020.

The announcement Tuesday described Portola Partners as an RIA with “substantial expertise at the intersection of investments and tax, wealth transfer, estate and charitable planning.” Many of Portola’s clients are from the San Francisco Bay area; they include technology company founders, executives and venture capitalists.

“Portola’s expertise and client focus have earned them the loyalty and trust of some of the country’s most successful wealth creators, and we are thrilled to have the team join CI,” Kurt MacAlpine, CI chief executive, said in a prepared statement.

“Portola has developed wide-ranging capabilities to address the multifaceted needs of ultra-high-net-worth families, from intellectually rigorous, endowment-style investment management to complex tax planning to a wide range of family office services,” MacAlpine said. “The Portola team and model will be valuable in fostering the development of our ultra-high-net-worth offering across CI Private Wealth.”

Co-managing partner Zack Herlick described the deal as a “big step forward” in taking care of clients and employees of the RIA.

“CI’s quality and scale will allow us to broaden and deepen the array of best-in-class services we offer to discerning families with sophisticated needs and wants,” Herlick said.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but CI is a publicly traded company with its stock listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.

The transaction is expected to close later this month, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.