Empower Retirement, a subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco Inc., has acquired Personal Capital for up to $1 billion, with $825 million paid on closing and up to $175 million to be paid for achieving growth targets.
In connection with the acquisition, Great-West Lifeco entered into a $500 million bridge financing arrangement with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding. Prior to closing, Great-West Lifeco replaced the bridge financing with permanent financing in the form of debt securities.
Empower is the second-largest retirement services provider in the United States and administers $583 billion in assets for more than 9.6 million retirement plan participants.
Personal Capital is a remote-delivery, digital wealth management company that is used by more than 2.5 million customers and manages more than $12 billion in assets. By acquiring Personal Capital, Empower adds a personal wealth management platform and proprietary financial tools.
The S&C team representing Great-West Lifeco and Empower was led by M&A and financial services partner Mark Menting. S. Neal McKnight and Marion Leydier advised on financing matters. Mehdi Ansari advised on intellectual property matters, Frederick Wertheim advised on regulatory matters and David Spitzer advised on tax matters.