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$1.7B sale of Waddell & Reed finalizes

First announced in December 2020, a deal to sell Overland Park-based Waddell & Reed to Macquarie Asset Management has officially completed. The $1.7 billion transaction results in Macquarie retaining Waddell & Reed’s asset management business, bringing $76 billion USD in assets under management. 

Macquarie Asset Management officially closed on its $1.7 billion acquisition of Overland Park-based Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. on Friday afternoon.

The transaction brings $76 billion in assets to Macquarie Asset Management, making it a top 20 actively managed, long-term open-end U.S. mutual fund manager by assets under management.

The company, a division of Australian financial services company Macquarie Group, had $425.4 billion in assets as of Dec. 31 and more than 1,900 employees in 20 markets in Australia, the Americas, Europe and Asia. Macquarie will incorporate Waddell’s Ivy Funds into the Delaware Funds.

The closing also included Macquarie’s sale of Waddell & Reed’s wealth management business to Boston-based LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA) for $300 million. LPL will bring about 900 Waddell & Reed advisers and all their client assets onto its platform. LPL and Macquerie entered into a long-term partnership agreement that made Macquarie one of LPL’s top-tier strategic asset management partners.

Macquarie said in March that it will not occupy a $140 million downtown building under construction at 1400 Baltimore Ave. that was planned as Waddell & Reed’s new headquarters. The company has said it’s committed to the Kansas City area and supporting the needs of local clients and staff.