Empower, Great-West Lifeco’s U.S. retirement services subsidiary, has closed its US$340-million acquisition of Seattle-based Milliman’s retirement plan and benefits administration business.
The acquisition adds 400 defined benefit (DB) plans with about 790,000 participants and US$80 billion in client assets, as well as 1,100 defined contribution (DC) plans with roughly 750,000 participants and US$50 billion in assets. It also adds 100 health and welfare plans serving about 100,000 participants.
The Milliman deal marks Empower’s “first meaningful acquisition” in the DB pension space, Shubha Khan, senior vice-president and head of investor relations, said in an interview.
Empower has historically focused on DC plans, including U.S. 401(k) plans. The acquisition, which brings about 800 Milliman employees to Empower, gives the company DB administration capabilities.
It is also intended to make Empower’s retirement services more attractive to corporate clients.
“A potential larger corporate customer doesn’t have to do part of their retirement through us and then part of it through some other record keeper,” Khan said. “We can [administer] all of their retirement services.”
The employees and Milliman’s retirement business will be integrated into the Empower brand over time, Khan said.
Following the acquisition, Empower administers 96,000 workplace plans covering more than 22 million participants and US$2.3 trillion in client assets.
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Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and California-based digital infrastructure company Equinix have jointly acquired Nordic data centre developer atNorth in a US$4.1-billion deal.
CPP Investments will hold a 51% controlling stake after committing US$1.3 billion. Equinix will own 34% after committing US$895 million, while Partners Group will hold 10% after investing US$260 million. The remaining stake will be held by atNorth’s internal stakeholders.
atNorth has existing and planned locations across all five Nordic countries, serving AI, cloud and high-performance computing workloads.
The company will continue to operate independently under its own brand and will use the investment to accelerate development of new locations and expand capacity.
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In another deal, CPP Investments and British private equity firm Permira completed their acquisition of Jersey-headquartered fund, corporate and private capital administration provider JTC.
Jersey is a British Crown Dependency in the English Channel with no corporate tax on most businesses and no capital gains tax.
CPP Investments committed about $660 million for a 20% stake in JTC, while Permira acquired a majority interest.
The investment gives CPP Investments exposure to JTC’s expertise in outsourced fund, corporate and private client administration across complex financial and regulatory environments.
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La Caisse and Brookfield jointly invested $1.76 billion for a 24% stake in Indian telecom tower operator Altius Telecom Infrastructure.
Brookfield remains Altius’ largest shareholder, while GIC and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation are also existing investors.
Altius owns and operates more than 258,000 telecom towers and sites across India, supporting 4G and 5G services.
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Montreal-based Walter Global Asset Management invested an undisclosed amount in Canadian investment and insurance software company Equisoft.
More than 40% of Equisoft’s revenue comes from outside Canada and the U.S., and its software is used by about 325 financial institutions, according to a release.
Equisoft is Walter’s 16th investment. The company will use the capital to support further international growth.
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Beedie Capital acquired a 50% stake in Vistara Growth and will serve as anchor investor in the upcoming Vistara Growth Structured Opportunities Fund, scheduled to launch this fall.
Beedie is committing up to US$125 million toward the fund’s US$500-million target.
Ryan Beedie, president of Beedie, and Vistara founder Randy Garg launched Beedie Capital together in 2010 with a focus on tech companies. Garg left in 2015 to launch Vistara Growth, with Beedie Capital among its first limited partners.
Vistara provides flexible growth debt and equity capital to mid- and late-stage tech companies.
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Goldman Sachs Group announced plans to acquire options-based income ETF provider Neos Investments for US$2.25 billion in cash and equity.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.
Founded in 2022, Neos offers options-based ETFs designed to generate monthly income. As of June 30, the firm managed US$30 billion across 19 ETFs.
The acquisition will expand Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s derivatives-based ETF offering. Together, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Innovator from Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Neos manage more than US$130 billion in ETF assets.
Goldman Sachs said its sales, marketing and other resources will help Neos expand into new markets.