Goodwin’s cross disciplinary team advised WisdomTree Investments, Inc. in its definitive agreement to acquire ETF Securities’ European exchange-traded commodity, currency and short-and-leveraged business, which includes $17.6 billion of assets under management. Under the terms of the agreement, WisdomTree will exchange $253 million of cash and stock consideration of 30 million WisdomTree shares for the acquired business. Based on the November 10 market close price, the total consideration is valued at $611 million. Subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in late Q1 of 2018.
The acquisition will provide WisdomTree with immediate scale in Europe, an industry-leading position in European-listed gold and commodity products, greater assets under management diversification globally, and profitability at WisdomTree Europe and in its International Operating segment.
WisdomTree Investments, through its subsidiaries in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada, is an exchange-traded fund and exchange-traded product sponsor and asset manager.
ETF Securities is one of the world’s leading innovators of exchange-traded products and provides specialist investment solutions across multiple asset classes to investors around the world, enabling them to intelligently build and diversify their portfolios.
The Goodwin cross-border team was led by partners James Hutchinson and Gemma Roberts and included partners Janet Andolina, Jocelyn Arel, Jennifer Bralower, and Gretchen Scott; counsel Glynn Barwick and Brian Mukherjee; senior attorney Ai Tajima; and associates Daniel Espinoza, Katie Leah, Tessa Parkes and Camilla Bunney.
For additional details on the acquisition, please read the press release.