Italy's Azimut buys Chigago-based North Square Investments in $165 million deal

MILAN (Reuters) -Italian asset manager Azimut said on Tuesday it had signed a binding accord to buy North Square Investments (NSI) in a cash-and-share deal giving the U.S. peer an enterprise value of $165 million.

Azimut, which is carrying out the deal through its U.S. arm Azimut US Holdings, said it would pay $60 million at closing and a further $50 million over the following four years.

The price tag could reach $160 million when including earn-out mechanisms and management incentives, it said, adding it would pay partly in cash and partly through shares in Milan-listed Azimut Holding.

Azimut said it would contribute its 51% stake in Kennedy Capital Management as part of the deal and combine the Missouri-based asset manager, which has $4.5 billion in assets under management (AUMs), with NSI to create a player with around $20 billion in AUMs.

The transaction cements the role of the U.S. market as Azimut's second biggest after Italy with a total of consolidated pro-forma AUMs of $50 billion.

Azimut estimated the deal would increase its recurring 2024 net profit, calculated without the contribution from the TNB (The New Bank) spin-off, by around 5% within the first 12 months.

NSI plans to launch seven active exchange traded funds for U.S. retail investors during the first year, Azimut said.

Azimut is buying 100% of NSI, which originated through a hiving off of assets from Oak Ridge Investments, from private equity firm Estancia Capital Partners and other shareholders.

(Reporting by Sara Rossi; Editing by Alvise Armellini and Keith Weir)