In an example of the go-private trend that has shaped part of wealth management in North America, CI will no longer be a listed financial group, selling up to funds run by a Middle East-based sovereign wealth fund.

Canada-listed CI Financial yesterday said that an “overwhelming” majority of its shareholders have backed a previously-announced move with an Abu Dhabi-based group to take it private.

An affiliate of funds managed by Mubadala Capital will acquire, all of the issued and outstanding common shares of the group, it said in a statement. 

As reported previously, CI is being taken private in a C$4.7 billion ($3.3 billion) deal, giving the group a C$12.1 billion enterprise value. CI has said it will continue to operate with its current structure and management team and be independent of Mubadala Capital’s other portfolio businesses. (Mubadala Capital is the asset management arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund.)

CI’s purchase of a raft of US wealth management businesses – starting in 2020 – has been one of the stand-out stories within North American M&A. Separately, CI’s US wealth management business, now known as Corient, has continued to buy firms. On January 22, it acquired Geller’s multi-family office business, Geller MFO. That deal is also one of the largest that Corient has executed. (The Corient rebrand happened in August 2023.)