Orion Advisor Solutions LLC and Brinker Capital Inc. will merge to create a combined technology and turnkey asset management program provider.
The deal will enable Orion to have an additional $40 billion of combined assets and support more than 2,000 advisory firms with $1 trillion in assets under administration. Brinker Capital, an investment management company, has $24.5 billion in assets under management as of June 19.
Brinker Capital's investment management services will be merged with Orion's CLS Investments, and both will be integrated into Orion's brand family as Brinker Capital Investments. Also joining Orion's brand family are Brinker Capital's wealth advisory service; its Behavioral Innovation Lab, which provides financial advisers with tools for applying behavioral finance; and its proprietary investment strategies, including the Destinations mutual funds portfolios which have more than $12 billion in assets.
Private equity firms Genstar Capital LLC and TA Associates Management LP, an existing financial partner of Orion, agreed to invest in the combined company. Brinker Capital founder Charles Widger and CEO Noreen Beaman, alongside other management executives, will invest in the combined company. Orion CEO Eric Clarke and other management executives will continue to make their investments.
Tony Salewski, a managing director at Genstar, and Sid Ramakrishnan, a principal at the private equity firm, will join the combined company's board. The deals are expected to close in the third quarter.
Earlier in the year, TA Associates reportedly engaged Raymond James to look for potential suitors for Orion. The private equity firm became Orion's majority owner in 2015.
Raymond James & Associates Inc. was Orion's exclusive financial adviser on the investment of Genstar and TA Associates. Raymond James and Credit Suisse were the financial co-advisers to Orion and TA Associates on the pending merger with Brinker Capital. Goodwin Procter LLP was the legal adviser to Orion and TA Associates.
UBS Investment Bank and Ardea Partners were Genstar's financial advisers, while Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP was the private equity firm's legal counsel. Moelis & Co. LLC was Brinker Capital's exclusive financial adviser, while Hinckley Allen and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP were legal advisers.