WisdomTree Completes Acquisition of ETF Securities’ European Exchange-Traded Commodity, Currency and Short-and-Leveraged Bu...
April 12 2018 - 4:00AM
WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ:WETF), an exchange-traded fund
(“ETF”) and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor and asset
manager, announced today that it has completed its previously
announced acquisition of ETF Securities’ European exchange-traded
commodity, currency and short-and-leveraged business (“ETFS”),
which includes $17.6 billion of assets under management (“AUM”) as
of April 10, 2018.
With the addition of ETFS, WisdomTree's AUM has increased to
approximately $63.4 billion globally as of April 10, 2018. The
acquisition elevates WisdomTree to the 9th largest ETP sponsor
globally and the largest global independent ETP provider based on
AUM, with significant scale and presence in the U.S. and Europe,
the two largest ETP markets.
Consideration for the acquired business was $253 million of cash
and stock consideration equivalent to 30 million shares of
WisdomTree common stock, representing total consideration of $523
million based on the market close on April 10, 2018. The cash
portion of the purchase price was funded with $53 million of
balance sheet cash and $200 million from a newly raised term
loan.
Jonathan Steinberg, WisdomTree CEO and President, said, “The
completion of the acquisition brings together two undeniable forces
in the industry, strongly positioning WisdomTree as a
differentiated and diversified ETP provider that can thrive
globally. Our newly combined talent and broad array of ETP
offerings further expand, enhance and complement WisdomTree’s
capabilities to continue to help investors achieve their investment
objectives and generate long-term shareholder value.”
“The acquisition immediately adds scale, diversification and
profitability to our business in Europe – the second largest ETF
market in the world – and adds overall strength and resources to
WisdomTree globally,” Steinberg added.
The Company will discuss the acquisition in further detail on
the Q1 2018 Earnings Call.
About WisdomTree WisdomTree Investments, Inc.,
through its subsidiaries in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada
(collectively, “WisdomTree”), is an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”)
and exchange-traded product (“ETP”) sponsor and asset manager
headquartered in New York. WisdomTree offers products
covering equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and
alternative strategies. WisdomTree currently has
approximately $63.4 billion in assets under management
globally.
WisdomTree® is the marketing name for WisdomTree Investments,
Inc. and its subsidiaries worldwide.
About ETF Securities ETF Securities is one of
the world's leading innovators of Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs)
and provides specialist investment solutions across multiple
asset classes to investors around the world, enabling them to
intelligently build and diversify their portfolios. The company is
the largest provider of commodity ETPs in Europe, having created
the world's first gold ETP in 2003. The company's range of European
commodity, currency and short & leveraged ETPs has a total AUM
of US$17.6 billion, as of April 10, 2018.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are
based on our management's beliefs and assumptions and on
information currently available to our management. Although we
believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking
statements are reasonable, these statements relate to future events
or our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual
results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be
materially different from any future results, levels of activity,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by these
forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify
forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will,"
"should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes,"
"estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue" or the negative of
these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are
only predictions. You should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors, which are, in some cases,
beyond our control and which could materially affect results.
Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from
current expectations include, among other things, the risks
described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. If one or more of these
or other risks or uncertainties occur, or if our underlying
assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual events or results may
vary significantly from those implied or projected by the
forward-looking statements. No forward-looking statement is a
guarantee of future performance. You should read this press release
completely and with the understanding that our actual future
results may be materially different from any future results
expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements in this press release represent
our views as of the date of this press release. We anticipate
that subsequent events and developments may cause our views to
change. However, while we may elect to update these
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we have no
current intention of doing so except to the extent required by
applicable law. Therefore, these forward-looking statements do
not represent our views as of any date other than the date of this
press release.
Contact Information:
Investor RelationsWisdomTree Investments, Inc. Jason Weyeneth,
CFA+1.917.267.3858 jweyeneth@wisdomtree.com
Media RelationsWisdomTree Investments, Inc. Jessica Zaloom
+1.917.267.3735 jzaloom@wisdomtree.com
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