North Square Investments (NSI) has agreed to be acquired by Azimut Group, a leading independent asset manager in Europe, through its U.S. subsidiary, Azimut US Holdings.
This acquisition will expand Azimut’s presence in the U.S., making it its second home market after Italy. Following the deal, Kennedy Capital Management will become a subsidiary of NSI, which will be renamed Azimut NSI. The combined assets under management will exceed $20 billion, and the workforce will expand to over 100 employees, while North Square Funds and ETFs will retain their respective brands.
The deal is expected to close in early 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
Advisors: Piper Sandler served as the exclusive financial advisor to NSI, and Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to NSI and Estancia. Sidley Austin served as legal counsel to Azimut.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are extremely excited to be joining the Azimut Group family of companies. Since our launch, NSI has been singularly focused on bringing to market best-in-class asset management solutions in partnership with top-tier institutional asset managers. The partnership with Azimut will allow us to accelerate our growth trajectory by leveraging a wide array of traditional and alternative strategies from across their global ecosystem.”
“This acquisition solidifies Azimut’s foothold in the U.S. and will capitalize on the distribution success North Square has experienced since its founding in 2018. With the additional resources of a major, experienced and well-capitalized global money manager and the ability to offer additional product capabilities—in asset classes such as global equity, global fixed income, private equity, private credit and alternative investments—it sets North Square up for significant expansion. Importantly, we also feel a strong cultural alignment, as both firms are entrepreneurial in nature, innovative in the way they bring products to the marketplace, and collaborative in the way colleagues work across their respective organizations. We thank Estancia for their years of partnership and believing in our vision, and are incredibly excited about our future with Azimut.”
Mark Goodwin, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NSI
“NSI is an exceptional fit for our Group. Like Azimut, it operates as an integrated asset management and distribution firm with outstanding reach and execution. Its unique positioning enables it to capture the ongoing structural growth of the US asset and wealth management industry, managing a broader range of products and penetrating even deeper into its distribution networks. By bringing together NSI’s powerful sales engine with Azimut’s suite of high-performing, differentiated strategies, we are creating a compelling win-win: Azimut gains strong U.S. distribution capabilities, while NSI will enhance its offering with exclusive, top-tier global investment strategies for its clients.”
Giorgio Medda, CEO of Azimut Group
“From Estancia’s decades of experience growing successful companies, we knew NSI’s ability to provide scaled U.S. intermediate distribution to talented money managers is a valuable, business-critical solution not easily replicated. At the inception of our investment in North Square, we identified non-U.S. asset managers seeking access to the largest retail pool of assets in the world as high-probability future partners. We are very pleased that NSI’s next phase of growth will be driven by a significant commitment from Azimut, benefiting the company’s investment teams and all the retail clients who have put their trust in North Square investment products.”
Takashi Moriuchi, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Estancia
