Schwab Announces Agreement to Acquire Thomas Partners For $85M

The Charles Schwab Corporation today announced an agreement to acquireThomasPartners, Inc., which includes an upfront payment of $85 million in cashand the opportunity for additional payments contingent on future growth inassets under management (AUM). The deal is expected to close during the fourthquarter, subject to customary closing conditions.Headquartered in Wellesley, Massachusetts, ThomasPartners is a dividendincome-focused asset management firm with $2.3 billion in AUM as of September30, 2012, in largely growth-oriented investment portfolios designed togenerate dividend income streams. ThomasPartners has consistently outperformedrelevant benchmarks over the nine-year history of its dividend product.At current AUM levels, Schwab anticipates that the acquisition will be neutralto EPS for the first 12 months post-closing, and become modestly accretivewithin the next 12 months. Given demographic trends that are fueling growingdemand for income-oriented investment strategies, Schwab intends to furtherleverage ThomasPartners' strong track record of growth and performance overtime.