OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Waddell & Reed Financial, a Kansas investment and wealth management company, will be sold to an Australian firm for $1.7 billion.
Macquarie Asset Management, an arm of Australia’s Macquarie Group, announced late Wednesday that it will buy all outstanding shares of Waddell and Reed for $25 apiece.
Macquarie plans to sell Waddell & Reed’s wealth management platform to Boston’s LPL Financial Holdings for $300 million when the deal closes, the companies said.
The sale has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close by mid-2021, pending regulatory approval.
Waddell & Reed, based in Overland Park, Kansas, has provided investment and wealth management services throughout the U.S. since 1937.
Philip Sanders, CEO of Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc., said in a prepared statement that the partnership with Macquarie and LPL will help the company accelerate its goal of transitioning to a more diversified and growth-oriented financial services company.