OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — An Australian company has purchased the Kansas-based financial services company Waddell & Reed Financial for $1.7 billion.
Macquarie Asset Management, an arm of Australia’s Macquarie Group, announced late Wednesday that it will buy all outstanding shares of Waddell and Reed for $25 per share in cash. The companies said in a statement that when the sale is complete, Macquarie plans to sell Waddell & Reed’s wealth management platform to LPL Financial Holdings, an independent broker-dealer in Boston for $300 million.
The two companies’ boards of directors have approved the sale, which is expected to be complete by mid-2021, pending normal regulatory approvals.
