Top U.S. and Canadian real estate and mortgage
investment teams to join forces to serve global client base
Broadens and expands Sun Life Financial's asset
management pillar
TORONTO, June 15, 2015 /CNW/ - Sun Life Financial Inc.
("Sun Life") (TSX:SLF) (NYSE:SLF) and Bentall Kennedy Group
announced today an agreement whereby Sun Life will acquire Bentall
Kennedy for a purchase price of $560
million. Bentall Kennedy is a premier real estate investment
manager operating in Canada and
the U.S. and provides specialized real estate investment management
and real estate services, including property management and
leasing. As at March 31, 2015,
Bentall Kennedy had assets under management of $27 billion and provided real estate services
across 91 million square feet of properties.
The acquisition is part of Sun Life's strategy to broaden its
asset management pillar by expanding and diversifying the
capabilities of Sun Life Investment Management, which provides
investment services to third parties and manages Sun Life's general
account. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter
of 2015, subject to customary closing conditions, including
regulatory approvals. It will be immediately accretive to earnings
and return on equity.
"The acquisition of Bentall Kennedy is a perfect fit with Sun
Life's four pillar strategy," said Dean
Connor, Chief Executive Officer, Sun Life Financial. "It
expands and diversifies our asset management pillar, with one of
the most respected names in real estate."
The two firms will combine their real estate investment
management teams and Bentall Kennedy will be a unit of Sun Life
Investment Management. Bentall Kennedy will retain its brand name
and be Sun Life's exclusive real estate investment management
platform. Together, the real estate and mortgage teams of Bentall
Kennedy and Sun Life Investment Management will have $47 billion in assets under management, serving
over 550 institutional clients and investors.
"The purchase of Bentall Kennedy complements Sun Life Investment
Management's expertise in asset-liability management, fixed income
and alternative asset classes by extending our real estate and
mortgage investment capabilities," said Steve Peacher, President, Sun Life Investment
Management, and Chief Investment Officer, Sun Life Financial. "The
two companies also share a common focus on customers, quality
investments, strong governance and a commitment to sustainability.
Together, we are well-positioned for future growth to meet the
needs of pension funds and other institutional clients."
Bentall Kennedy's management team fully supports the transaction
and is committed to continuing to deliver strong performance and
continuity of relationships with all clients. Following completion
of the transaction, Bentall Kennedy will continue to be managed by
its current team, led by Group Chief Executive Officer,
Gary Whitelaw, who will report to
Steve Peacher and join the Sun Life
Investment Management leadership team. Bentall Kennedy and Sun Life
Investment Management will maintain their existing locations.
"For more than 100 years, Bentall Kennedy has been providing
top-ranked service and strong performance for its clients. My
colleagues and I are excited to take this next step in our
evolution," said Gary Whitelaw. "Sun
Life is a strong, highly regarded, and extremely well run financial
services organization. We share a deep commitment to investment
management as a core business. This combination enables Bentall
Kennedy to further advance its mission to stand apart for
exceptional client service and high performance culture, all with a
strong commitment to Environmental, Social, Governance, and
Responsible Property Investment principles."
Bentall Kennedy's institutional shareholders, the British
Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) and the
California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), have both
approved the transaction and will continue to be key clients of
Bentall Kennedy under Sun Life's ownership.
"bcIMC strongly supports the transaction, which we believe is
beneficial to all stakeholders and ensures that Bentall Kennedy
remains well positioned to continue to deliver value to its
clients," said Dean Atkins, Acting
Senior Vice President, Real Estate, bcIMC. "Bentall Kennedy has
been a valued and trusted adviser of bcIMC for more than 24 years.
We look forward to continuing our close relationship with the firm
under Sun Life's ownership."
"CalPERS looks forward to the future in partnership with Sun
Life Investment Management, building on its 17-year longstanding
relationship with Bentall Kennedy," said Paul Mouchakkaa, CalPERS
Senior Investment Officer for Real Assets.
Forward-looking information
Certain statements in this
news release are forward-looking, including, but are not limited to
the expected completion date of the transaction; the expected
impact of that transaction on Sun Life Financial's earnings and
return on equity and other statements that are not historical or
are predictive in nature or that depend upon or refer to future
events or conditions. Forward-looking statements may include words
such as "aim", "anticipate", "assumption", "believe", "could",
"estimate", "expect", "goal", "intend", "may", "objective",
"outlook", "plan", "project", "seek", "should", "initiatives",
"strategy", "strive", "target", "will" and similar expressions. All
such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the "safe
harbour provisions" of applicable Canadian securities laws and of
the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.
The forward-looking statements in this news release represent
our current expectations, estimates and projections regarding
future events and are not historical facts. These forward-looking
statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve
risks and uncertainties and are based on key factors and
assumptions are difficult to predict. These forward-looking
statements do not reflect the potential impact of any non-recurring
or other special items or any dispositions, mergers, acquisitions
or other business combinations or transactions that may be
announced or that may occur after the date of this news
release.
Except as may be required by Canadian securities laws, we do not
undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements contained in this news release.
Forward-looking statements are presented to assist investors and
others in understanding our expected financial position and results
of operations as at the date of this news release, as well as our
objectives for the transaction, strategic priorities and business
outlook following the transaction, and in obtaining a better
understanding of our anticipated operating environment following
the transaction. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking
statements may not be appropriate for other purposes and undue
reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking
statements.
Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in
or implied by the forward-looking statements in this news release
due to various risk factors, including without limitation: the
ability of the parties to complete the transaction; failure of the
parties to obtain necessary consents and approvals or to otherwise
satisfy the conditions to the completion of the transaction in a
timely manner, or at all; failure to effectively or efficiently
reorganize the operations of Sun Life Financial and Bentall Kennedy
after the transaction has closed; and the impact of the
announcement of the transaction and the dedication of Sun Life
Financial's resources to completing the transaction on Sun Life
Financial and Bentall Kennedy. These risks all could have an impact
on the business relationships of Sun Life Financial and Bentall
Kennedy (including with future and prospective employees,
customers, distributors and partners) and could have a material
adverse effect on our current and future operations, financial
conditions and prospects.
Additional information about risk factors can be found in the
annual information form of Sun Life Financial Inc. for the year
ended December 31, 2014 under the
heading "Risk Factors" and other regulatory filings filed or
furnished to Canadian and U.S. securities regulators available at
www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov.
About Bentall Kennedy
Bentall Kennedy is one of
North America's largest real
estate investment advisors and one of its foremost providers of
real estate services. Bentall Kennedy is a recognized global leader
in Responsible Property Investing, currently ranked first globally
in its category in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark
study, the broadest measure of governance quality and
sustainability performance in the global real estate industry.
Bentall Kennedy is a member of UN
PRI and has received the Energy Star Partner of The
Year—Sustained Excellence Award for the past 5 years.
Bentall Kennedy includes Bentall Kennedy (Canada) Limited Partnership and Bentall
Kennedy (U.S.) Limited Partnership. For more information, visit
www.bentallkennedy.com.
About Sun Life Investment Management
Sun Life
Investment Management is an institutional investment management arm
of Sun Life Financial that includes the investment operations of
Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, Sun Life Investment Management Inc. in
Canada, and Ryan Labs Asset
Management Inc. (acquired April 2,
2015) in the United States.
As of March 31, 2015, these Sun Life
Investment Management operations had combined assets under
management of $141 billion.
About Sun Life Financial
Celebrating 150 years in
2015, Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial
services organization providing a diverse range of protection and
wealth products and services to individuals and corporate
customers. Sun Life Financial and its partners have operations in a
number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United
States, the United Kingdom,
Ireland, Hong Kong, the
Philippines, Japan,
Indonesia, India, China,
Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of March
31, 2015, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had
total assets under management of $813
billion. For more information please visit
www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New
York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the
ticker symbol SLF.
Note to editors: All figures in Canadian dollars unless
stated otherwise.
SOURCE Sun Life Financial Inc. - Financial News