Tiedemann Chief Executive Michael Tiedemann (right) is expected to be the combined company’s CEO, while Alvarium Chief Executive Alexander de Meyer (left) is expected to chair its executive committee. Both firms focus on high-net-worth wealth management and ESG investing.
Investment firms Tiedemann Group and Alvarium Investments Ltd. are close to a deal to merge and go public through a special-purpose acquisition company, people familiar with the matter said.
The combined investment firm would be called Alvarium Tiedemann Holdings and be valued at roughly $1.4 billion in the deal with the SPAC Cartesian Growth Corp., the people said. The merger could be announced as soon as this week.
Alvarium Tiedemann would be expected to have about $54 billion in assets under management and advisement after combining Tiedemann’s U.S. focus with Alvarium’s global presence, the people said.
New York-based Tiedemann has nine offices across the U.S. and international operations based in Switzerland, according to its website. Alvarium is headquartered in London and has offices in Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Melbourne and the U.S.
Both Tiedemann and Alvarium say they focus on high-net-worth wealth management and give priority to environmental, social and governance factors. ESG funds have soared in popularity in recent years with Wall Street lining up trillions of dollars to finance the shift away from fossil fuels.
Tiedemann Chief Executive Michael Tiedemann is expected to be the combined company’s CEO, the people said. Alvarium Chief Executive Alexander de Meyer is expected to chair its executive committee.
Deals among investment advisory firms have been popular in recent years. Companies are seeking greater scale while capitalizing on years of stock-market gains. Firms that manage money for the rich have reported surging revenues lately.
As part of the deal, Tiedemann and Alvarium are expected to raise roughly $165 million in a private investment in public equity, or PIPE, associated with the deal, the people said. PIPE investors are expected to include strategic partners of both companies, they said.
The Cartesian SPAC has $345 million on hand, though SPAC investors could pull their money out before a deal is completed. The SPAC is backed by the private-equity firm Cartesian Capital Group LLC and led by Peter Yu, who was previously CEO of AIG Capital Partners Inc., the private-equity arm of the insurance conglomerate.
Also called a blank-check company, a SPAC is a shell company that raises money and trades on a stock exchange with the sole intent of merging with a private company and taking it public. The private firm then replaces the SPAC in the stock market.
SPAC mergers have become a popular alternative to initial public offerings in the past year, with blank-check companies raising a record of about $125 billion in 2021, according to SPAC Research.
Many companies that go public through SPACs are startups. Some have seen shares fall in recent months after they reported lackluster sales or hit business snags, pausing some of the momentum in the sector and making it harder for many companies to complete deals.