Fisher Investments denied a WSJ report that it was negotiating a sale.
Money management firm Fisher Investments denied reports late Tuesday that it was in sale talks with private equity firm Advent International.
The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Tuesday that acquisition talks were underway. No further details were released, and the Journal reported that a deal would likely not take place or that another suitor for Fisher’s company would emerge.
The report was strongly rejected.
“Fisher Investments is not acquiring Advent International or anyone else. Plain and simple. “If the Wall Street Journal had bothered to verify their article prior to publication, we would have corrected it,” Naj Srinivas, Fisher’s vice president of corporate communications, said in an email.
Advent also rejected the report. “Advent is not acquiring Fisher Investments,” a spokesperson said.
Billionaire Ken Fisher founded Fisher Investments in 1979. The company manages approximately $236 billion in assets globally, according to its website. Fisher moved from CEO to Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer in 2016.
Clients withdrew millions of dollars from Fisher’s funds in 2019 after he made lewd remarks during an interview at a financial industry conference. Fisher later apologized for his comments.
Last year, he moved the company’s headquarters from Washington state to Texas, citing Washington’s high capital gains taxes.
Advent focuses on acquisitions, with $92 billion in assets under management, according to its website. Last November, Advent named Tricia Rothschild as operating partner and said she would play a “key role” in finding new investments in wealth and asset management.
