David K. Boston

Willkie advised Franklin Templeton on the transaction. On May 31, Willkie client Franklin Resources, Inc., a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton, announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire BNY Alcentra Group from The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. One of the largest European credit and private debt managers, Alcentra has $38 billion in assets under management with global expertise in senior secured loans, high yield bonds, private credit, structured credit, special situations and multi-strategy credit strategies. Through the acquisition, Franklin Templeton’s U.S. alternative credit specialist investment manager, Benefit Street Partners, is expected to expand its alternative credit capabilities and presence in Europe. The transaction is also expected to strengthen the breadth and scale of Franklin Templeton’s alternative asset strategies, bringing firmwide alternative assets under management to $257 billion. Willkie previously advised Franklin Resources on numerous transactions, including its $1.75 billion acquisition of Lexington Partners L.P. and its $4.5 billion acquisition of Legg Mason. Franklin Resources is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 155 countries. With offices in more than 30 countries, the California-based company has approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon is a global investments company with approximately $2.3 trillion in assets under management. The Willkie team was led by partners David Boston and Danielle Scalzo, and included partners Justin Browder, Colin Fulton, Christopher Peters and Geri Anne McEvoy, and associate Jack Cantrell.

Jun 2

1 min

Willkie advised Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: VCTR) in its strategic partnership with Amundi that combines Amundi US (formerly Pioneer Investments) into Victory Capital, establishes Amundi as a strategic shareholder of Victory Capital, and puts in place long-term global distribution agreements. On July 9, Victory Capital announced that it executed definitive agreements with Amundi for the strategic partnership. Under the proposed transaction, Amundi will contribute Amundi US into Victory Capital in exchange for a 26.1% economic stake in Victory Capital. In addition, Amundi and Victory Capital entered into reciprocal 15-year distribution agreements, effective as of the closing. Under the distribution agreements, Victory Capital will exclusively supply US active asset management products for Amundi’s distribution outside of the US, and Victory Capital will become the exclusive distributor of Amundi’s non-US products in the US. Amundi, a publicly listed subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole group, is the leading European asset manager with more than €2 trillion of assets under management. Victory Capital is a diversified global asset management firm with total assets under management of $168.5 billion, and $173.4 billion in total client assets, as of May 31, 2024. The Willkie team was led by partners David Boston and Danielle Scalzo and included partners Tej Prakash, Justin Browder and Brian Baltz and associate Robert Quinn.

Jul 10

1 min

On November 18, Willkie client Westwood Holdings Group, Inc., a Dallas-based investment management boutique and wealth management firm, acquired the asset management business of Salient Partners, L.P., a Houston-based asset management firm. The acquisition entailed an upfront payment of $35 million in cash, subject to certain customary adjustments, with deferred payments of cash and equity of up to $25 million over several years, upon satisfaction of certain revenue retention and growth targets. Through the transaction, Westwood also acquired Salient’s significant minority stake in Broadmark Asset Management LLC. Broadmark is a San Francisco-based asset manager offering hedged equity strategies and serves as sub-adviser to a pair of mutual funds and separately managed accounts now offered by Westwood. The acquisition of Salient’s asset management business increases Westwood’s total assets under management by 33% to $16.3 billion, adding specialization and scale across Westwood’s Multi-Asset, Real Assets and Alternative range of strategies. The Willkie team was led by partners David Boston and Danielle Scalzo and included partners Geri Anne McEvoy, Justin Browder and Christopher Peters and associate Tyler Born.

Nov 22

1 min

Willkie advised Franklin Resources, Inc., a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton, on its agreement to acquire Putnam Investments from Great-West Lifeco, Inc. for approximately $925 million and its broader strategic partnership with Power Corporation of Canada and Great-West. Power Corporation of Canada together with its subsidiaries including Great-West and IGM Financial are leaders in the global insurance, retirement, asset management and wealth management sectors and have collective assets under management and/or administration of approximately $2.1 trillion. As a foundation of its strategic partnership with Power Corporation of Canada and Great-West announced on May 31, Franklin Templeton entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Putnam Investments, a global asset management firm with approximately $136 billion in AUM, from Great-West for approximately $925 million of primarily equity consideration. Great-West will become a long-term strategic shareholder in Franklin Resources with an approximate 6.2% stake. Franklin Resources, Inc. is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 155 countries. Power Corporation is an international management and holding company that focuses on financial services in North America, Europe and Asia. Great-West Lifeco, a member of the Power Corporation group of companies, is an international financial services holding company with interests in life insurance, health insurance, retirement and investment services, asset management and reinsurance businesses. Willkie previously advised Franklin Templeton in numerous transactions, including its acquisitions of Alcentra and Lexington Partners in 2022 and its acquisition of Legg Mason in 2020. The Willkie team was led by partners David Boston and Danielle Scalzo and included partners Jordan Messinger, Justin Browder and Christopher Peters and associate Samir Patel.

Jun 1

1 min

Willkie represented the underwriters in the $577 million initial public offering of Ibotta, Inc. (NYSE: IBTA), a leading technology company providing digital promotions and performance marketing solutions. On April 17, Ibotta announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 6,560,700 shares of its Class A common stock at a public offering price of $88.00 per share. In connection with the offering, which closed on April 22, 2,500,000 shares of Class A common stock were sold by Ibotta and 4,060,700 shares of Class A common stock were sold by certain selling stockholders. The selling stockholders also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 984,105 shares of Class A common stock. Willkie clients Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Citigroup and BofA Securities acted as joint lead book-running managers for the offering. The Willkie team was led by partners David Boston and Tej Prakash with associates Candace Mashel and Nicholas Maetta.

May 16

1 min