Schwab Announces Agreement to Acquire Thomas Partners For $85M

The Charles Schwab Corporation today announced an agreement to acquire ThomasPartners, Inc., which includes an upfront payment of $85 million in cash and the opportunity for additional payments contingent on future growth in assets under management (AUM). The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. Headquartered in Wellesley, Massachusetts, ThomasPartners is a dividend income-focused asset management firm with $2.3 billion in AUM as of September 30, 2012, in largely growth-oriented investment portfolios designed to generate dividend income streams. ThomasPartners has consistently outperformed relevant benchmarks over the nine-year history of its dividend product. At current AUM levels, Schwab anticipates that the acquisition will be neutral to EPS for the first 12 months post-closing, and become modestly accretive within the next 12 months. Given demographic trends that are fueling growing demand for income-oriented investment strategies, Schwab intends to further leverage ThomasPartners' strong track record of growth and performance over time.