The Canadian wealth manager Richardson GMP has acquired the Macquarie
Group's Canadian retail business, in a move to become Canada’s largest wealth management
firm.

Macquarie Private Wealth will be sold to Richardson GMP for
a price of about C$132 million ($127.2 million) in a deal that will nearly double the firm’s
assets under administration to C$28 billion ($26.98 billion).

The deal marks a significant retreat from Canada by Australian
investment bank Macquarie, which recently made major cuts to its
Canadian
capital markets unit.

Recent months have seen several independent retail
brokerages battle against Canadian banks for business, as the smaller firms
lost a collective $99 million last year in income, according to the Investment
Industry Association of Canada. Consequently, firms are merging to shoulder
expenses and recruit high-performing employees in a move to improve
competition.

“The wealth management industry in Canada has been
dynamic over the last few years,” explained Andrew Marsh, president and chief
executive of Richardson GMP.

“By making this acquisition Richardson GMP is showing that
we can compete with larger institutions, while maintaining a boutique culture.”

The Macquarie unit is being sold with more than 185 advisor teams in
12 offices in Canada, and C$12.9 billion ($12.4 billion) of assets under
administration. While integrating these operations with its 116 advisor teams, Richardson GMP will also
expand through additional hiring, Marsh said.

Macquarie Capital Markets
Canada, the other half of Macquarie’s Canadian
business, will not be affected by the deal.

Richardson GMP will sell new shares to raise cash for the deal,
which is expected to close before the end of the year, pending regulatory
approval.