Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank is buying Regina-based Greystone Managed Investments Inc. for roughly $792-million in stock and cash.
Greystone was originally a privatization out of the Saskatchewan government’s department of finance with a group of pension plans creating the company in 1988.
CEO and CIO Robert Vanderhooft, who started with the company in 1991, said it was tough to attract new clients at first, but by the late 1990s, things really picked up.
“It was 1999 that the employees bought majority control of the company and, from that point in time, we saw quite a bit of growth,” he said, adding Greystone started with just under $3 billion in assets and now has around $36 billion.
“It’s grown probably beyond what we had expected, but certainly from the perspective that you do the right things for clients and good things will happen.”
Under management at the bank, TD’s Canadian assets are set to grow to around $393 billion, making it the largest money manager in the country.
Greystone will be rebranded as TD Greystone Asset Management.
It will continue to run from its Regina location with around 200 employees.