A $130-billion-AUMA*, Italian, multinational, financial services firm is poised to shell out up to $160 million to buy a seven-year-old, $16-billion-AUM**, private-equity backed, multi-boutique, U.S. asset manager in the Midwest.

Mark David Goodwin North Square Investments Co-Founder, CEO

On Tuesday, Mark Goodwin, co-founder and CEO of North Square Investments (NSI), and Giorgio Medda, CEO of Azimut Group, revealed that Milan-based Azimut has agreed to purchase Chicago-based NSI. Under its Azimut US Holdings Inc. arm, Azimut plans to rebrand NSI as Azimut NSI and to turn a $4.6-billion-AUM** Azimut shop, St. Louis-based Kennedy Capital Management, into an Azimut NSI subsidiary. After the deal, watch for the combined Azimut NSI to further expand their fune lineup soon.

Goodwin confirms that NSI is currently owned by private equity firms Estancia Capital Partners and the 4100 Group, as well as NSI employees and some independent investors. Estancia, which has backed NSI since the multiboutique's launch in 2018, will exit as part of the Azimut deal, while 4100 and NSI's employees will become Azimut shareholders. (Estancia, a serial investor in asset managers, also exited from backing another U.S. multi-boutique asset manager at the end of 2023.)

The Azimut-NSI deal is expected to close early next year. Per Azimut's binding agreement, the multinational has agreed to pay $60 million up front and $50 million in deferred payments over four years (i.e. from 2026 to 2030). Plus, the deal also involves an earnout and management incentive plan through which Azimut could pay out up to $50 million more, mostly five years after the deal closes (i.e. in 2031). That price tag (which will include both cash and shares in Azimut) translates into between 0.7 percent and 1 percent of NSI's AUM. And the Azimut team estimates that NSI (not counting Kennedy) will generate between $20 million and $25 million in EBITDA in 2026, meaning that the price tag translates to between 4.4 times and 8 times EBITDA.

Piper Sandler & Co. advised NSI on the deal. Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel to Estancia and NSI, while Sidley Austin LLP counseled Azimut.

NSI now has 71 employees, while Kennedy (which Azimut first invested in back in 2023 before taking over as majority owner on February 26 of this year) has 46, Goodwin confirms. Azimut has about 2,000 employees across 18 countries, and those employees collectively own 22 percent of the publicly traded company, which in addition to asset management does fintech, investment banking, and wealth management work.

"No changes are anticipated," in the workforce or leadership teams of NSI, Kennedy, or NSI's other boutiques, Goodwin tells MFWire via email. Thus, it sounds like Azimut NSI is expected to debut with 117 employees.

The NSI team offers 15 subadvised mutual funds and ETFs (that includes 1 alternative fund, 6 equity funds, 5 fixed income funds, and 3 asset allocation funds), plus at least 18 subadvised SMA strategies (including 7 fixed income ones and 11 equity ones). Goodwin confirms that the Kennedy team (which specializes in equities ranging from micro-caps up to mid-caps) offers 3 mutual funds and 13 SMA strategies. And Kennedy is already one of NSI's subadvisors. Combined together as Azimut NSI, the two firms will have more than $20 billion in AUM (on a pro forma basis).

NSI currently works with eight boutiques as subadvisors. In addition to Kennedy, those boutiques include:

Pittsburgh-based CS McKee, a taxable fixed income manager which NSI bought in 2020;

Chicago-based Oak Ridge Investments, from which NSI spun out and in which NSI owns a minority stake;

Chicago-based Advisory Research Investment Management, a U.S. and global equity manager;

San Francisco-based Algert Global, a systematic global equity manager;

Stamford, Connecticut-based Altrinsic, a global, value equity manager;

Evanston, Illinois-based Evanston Capital Management, an alts managers; and

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Red Cedar Investment Management, an income-focused manager.

All the boutiques, save CS McKee, are independent of NSI.

Goodwin describes a "strong cultural alignment" between NSI and Azimut, while Medda calls NSI "an exceptional fit" for Azmiut.

"Both firms are entrepreneurial in nature, innovative in the way they bring products to the marketplace, and collaborative in the way colleagues work across their respective organizations," Goodwin states.

"With the additional resources of a major, experienced and well-capitalized global money manager and the ability to offer additional product capabilities — in asset classes such as global equity, global fixed income, private equity, private credit and alternative investments — it sets North Square up for significant expansion," Goodwin adds.

Medda lauds NSI as "an integrated asset management and distribution firm with outstanding reach and execution."

"Its unique positioning enables it to capture the ongoing structural growth of the US asset and wealth management industry, managing a broader range of products and penetrating even deeper into its distribution networks," Medda states. "By bringing together NSI's powerful sales engine with Azimut's suite of high-performing, differentiated strategies, we are creating a compelling win-win: Azimut gains strong U.S. distribution capabilities, while NSI will enhance its offering with exclusive, top-tier global investment strategies for its clients."

The Azimut team notes that the NSI deal will boost Azimut's U.S. presence to about $50 billion in AUM, on a pro forma basis.*** That, they note, means that the U.S. will become Azimut's second biggest market, after Italy itself.

Takasha Moriuchi, managing director and co-founder of Estancia, highlights NSI's "ability to provide scaled U.S. intermediate distribution to talented money managers."

"At the inception of our investment in North Square, we identified non-U.S. asset managers seeking access to the largest retail pool of assets in the world as high-probability future partners," Moriuchi states. "We are very pleased that NSI's next phase of growth will be driven by a significant commitment from Azimut, benefiting the company's investment teams and all the retail clients who have put their trust in North Square investment products."

Looking ahead, watch for the Azimut team to work with the NSI folks to expand Azimut's U.S. asset management distribution by launching new products. Goodwin confirms that the NSI team plans to roll out seven active U.S. ETFs, all powered by Azimut's "global investment team," in the first year after the deal closes. And perhaps Azimut will, through NSI, do more U.S. asset management deals down the line, too.

"Our primary focus is on organic growth," Goodwin writes. "However, our eyes remain open to other opportunistic acquisition opportunities."

*As of May 2025, Azimut had about €111 billion in AUMA. At today's exchange rates, that's about $130.23 billion.

**As of June 30, 2025.

***Azimut's U.S. business already includes Kennedy as well as Miami-based Azimut Genesis Advisors and New York City-based Azimut Alternative Capital Partners.  

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