The Italian buyer will have US aum of above 50 billion and distribute its products, including alternative investments, through NSI
Milan-listed financial services firm Azimut signed a binding agreement for acquiring Chicago-based multi-boutique North Square Investments LLC (NSI) from US private equity Estancia Capital Partners (press release of Azimut and Estancia Capital). Azimut US Holdings Inc will also purchase the NSI stakes that John Amboian (former ceo and chairman of Nuveen Investments), Brian Gaffney (previously ceo of Allianz Global US) and Neil Cummins (a member of Barclays Capital management committee) previously purchased.
In 2018, Mark Goodwin (formerly coo of Pioneer Investments) received the support of the vendor for carrying on a spin-out of Oak Ridge Investments’ platforms for distribution, operations and products and created NSI which has 16 billion US Dollars of aum . Goodwin also poached 24 professionals from Oak Ridge and acquired a minority of Oak Ridge (press release).
The buyer will pay in cash and Azimut Holding shares at least 110 million (60 million at the closing and 50 million over the following four years) for NSI whose enterprise value amounts 165 million. Earn-outs and incentives for the management could take the deal value to 160 million that Azimut will mostly pay five years after closing.
Azimut will confer on NSI its 51% of Kennedy Capital Management (an investor in US small and mid-caps with aum of 4.5 billion) that rose from 35% in February 2025 (press release). After such a deal the buyer will rebrand the target as Azimut NSI, a platform with US aum of above 20 billion and 50 billion global.
Azimut retained Sidley Austin LLP and Piper Sandler & Co. while Kirkland & Ellis LLP assisted NSI.
NSI implements high-quality alpha-seeking strategies for retail and institutional investors through sub-advisory partnerships and strategic participations in boutique investment firms. NSI has significant access to the US retail channel, with over 500 firms and 6,000 broker-dealers, Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and broker-dealers. NSI also has strong access to the institutional segment, with over 40 advisory relationships and more than 260 clients, including public pension funds, insurance companies and corporate benefit plans. NSI has an established and replicable business model to design, launch and distribute new products and a solid M&A track record.
NSI management team includes seasoned executives such as Phil Callahan, Head of Distribution & Marketing and former vice president of Oak Ridge Investments, and Timothy Ford, ceo of CS McKee, a firm acquired in 2020 (press release) and previous chairman and ceo of Foundry Partners
Takashi Moriuchi, ceo and co-founder of Estancia, said: “With Estancia’s decades of experience in developing successful businesses, we recognised from the outset that NSI’s ability to offer a distribution platform through intermediaries on a national scale to talented asset managers represents a valuable strategic business that is difficult to replicate. Since the inception of our investment in North Square, we identified international asset managers aiming to access the world’s largest retail market as potential future partners. We are very pleased that NSI’s next phase of growth will be driven by a significant commitment from Azimut, to the benefit of the company’s investment teams and all clients and advisors who have placed their trust in North Square’s investment strategies.”
Goodwin added: “We are extremely excited to be joining the Azimut Group family of companies. Since our launch, NSI has focused exclusively on offering the market the best asset management solutions in partnership with top-tier institutional managers. Our partnership with Azimut will enable us to further accelerate our growth path by leveraging a broad range of traditional and alternative strategies from their global ecosystem. With the additional resources of a leading, experienced and financially sound global player and the ability to expand our offering with new asset classes such as global equity, global fixed income, private equity, private credit and alternative investments, North Square is poised for a significant expansion phase.”
Giorgio Medda, ceo of Azimut Holding, concluded: “This partnership marks a pivotal moment in our expansion strategy in the US, where we are building a highly integrated and scalable B2B2C platform, an alternative to the traditional B2C model, which we believe is better suited to the dynamics of the US market. NSI complements our group perfectly as it is an integrated management and distribution company with excellent reach and execution capabilities. Its unique positioning allows it to take advantage of the structural growth taking place in the US wealth management industry by expanding its product range and further consolidating its presence in distribution channels. The combination of NSI’s powerful sales engine with Azimut’s suite of differentiated and high yield strategies will create a winning combination. Azimut gains strong local distribution capabilities, while NSI enhances its offering with exclusive, high quality global investment strategies for its clients. The transaction has an immediately accretive impact and we will reflect NSI’s potential in the five-year financial targets we will present in November 2025, together with an updated shareholder remuneration policy based on the principles of growth and optimal capital structure.”
For Azimut, the transaction will generate an exepected increase in net profit of approximately 5% within the first 12 months, with NSI projected to achieve an ebitda of USD 20-25 million in 2026 (net of the contribution of KCM, another US company of the Azimut Group with which NSI already has a collaboration agreement).
