Close up of businessman hands making handshake - greeting, dealing, merger and acquisition concepts
kritchanut/123RF

Desjardins Group is acquiring fellow Montreal-based investment firm Hexavest, adding $5 billion in assets under management and expertise in global equities.

Hexavest serves 50 mostly institutional clients in Canada, the U.S., Australia and Asia, with 30 employees specializing in global equity investment strategies, a release said. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close on Sept. 1, were not disclosed.

“The acquisition of Hexavest’s assets is perfectly in line with our pan-Canadian growth plan, which sets a target of $100 billion in assets under management by 2024,” said Nicolas Richard, president and chief operating officer of Desjardins Global Asset Management, in the release.

Desjardins Global Asset Management was managing $83 billion on March 31.

Hexavest’s specialists will join Desjardins in September, strengthening the firm’s emerging markets investment offering, Richard added.