This is the same Hartley Richardson and the Richardson family that have a big stake in KXL...I know where we can get some drilling money.....!!!!

GMP, Richardson in wealth management merger

David Parkinson, The Globe and Mail
July 23, 2009

Stock prices are delayed 15 minutes. Source: Globe and Mail.

Publicly traded investment firm GMP Capital Inc. will merge its wealth-management arm with privately held wealth management firm Richardson Partners Financial Ltd., in a deal that will make Winnipeg's wealthy Richardson family a major shareholder in GMP.

Under the agreement, James Richardson & Sons Ltd., the Richardson family holding company that controls Richardson Partners Financial, will buy $86 million of GMP common shares, raising its stake in GMP to about 12 percent, with the right to more than double that stake over the next five years.

GMP's wealth management business, GMP Private Client LP, will combine with Richardson Partners Financial to form a new firm called Richardson GMP Ltd. The combined firm will oversee more than $11 billion in assets among 114 investment-advisory teams, and will have 17 offices across Canada.

"This transaction aligns GMP, a proven institutional firm, with access to a now much larger wealth management business, creating a compelling, integrated platform in Canada," said Kevin Sullivan, chief executive officer of GMP, in the release.

The deal is expected to close in late October, subject to corporate and regulatory approvals. The share purchase by James Richardson & Sons will total about 8.7 million common shares. The $86 million price tag equates to the volume-weighted average price for GMP's shares over the past 10 trading days. The purchase, together with a small number of GMP shares Richardson already owns, will give Richardson about 9 million shares in total. Under the agreement, Richardson will have the right, through open-market purchases, to raise its stake to about 19.9 percent following completion of the transaction, and to a maximum of 27.4 percent over the next five years.

Two of Richardson's executives – James Richardson & Sons president and chief executive officer Hartley T. Richardson and Richardson Financial Group president and CEO H. Sanford Riley – will join GMP's board, which currently has seven members. The two companies will also enter into an investor agreement, governing board representation, GMP share dispositions and participation in future financings, as well as a standstill agreement regarding any future change-of-control transactions.

GMP Securities LP is acting as GMP Capital's financial adviser in the deal, while Goodmans LLP is serving as the company's legal adviser. Blair Franklin Capital Partners Inc. is acting as financial adviser to James Richardson & Sons, while Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is its legal adviser.