In one of the largest multi-family office transactions in recent times, the deal will see US-headquartered Corient widen its reach to Europe and beyond, acquiring firms specialising in serving UHNW and HNW clients.

Miami-headquartered Corient, the US wealth business that is a subsidiary of Canada’s CI Financial, has acquired two large Europe-based multi-family offices/wealth managers: Stonehage Fleming and Stanhope Capital.

The acquisitions, the financial terms of which were undisclosed, are being funded with an equity contribution and are expected to close in the first half of 2026, Corient said. As part of the transaction, Caledonia Investments Plc, a UK-listed investment trust, said yesterday it has sold its minority stake in Stonehage Fleming to Corient for about £288 million ($385.4 million). Caledonia has had a stake in the MFO since July 2019.

The transaction, which follows Corient's acquisition of US-based Geller’s multi-family office business in January this year, points to a drive by the US firm to build an MFO empire. It faces competition from the likes of AlTi Global or AlTi Tiedemann Global, borne out of a transatlantic merger which has continued to expand via M&A.

Stonehage Fleming and Stanhope Capital will bring more than $214 billion in client assets to Corient.

This deal marks a “significant expansion” of Corient’s global reach, establishing a presence in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and further deepening the firm’s expertise in serving ultra-high net worth families, Corient said in a statement yesterday.

“With this expansion, Corient becomes the world’s largest independent advisory firm focused on the holistic needs of ultra-high net worth and high net worth clients,” Kurt MacAlpine, partner and chief executive of Corient, said. “This combination of three storied firms creates a truly global wealth manager and multi-family office with formidable resources and deep expertise in serving the world’s wealthiest individuals and families.”

“By integrating the strengths of each organisation, Corient will be able to deliver seamless, end-to-end service to clients anywhere in the world – in a way that doesn’t exist today,” MacAlpine said. “Furthermore, our advantage extends beyond capabilities to how we deliver them. Under our international partnership, which will consist of more than 300 firm owners aligned under one vision, we’re building a new type of wealth management firm, one that is global, collaborative and evolving to meet the dynamic needs of sophisticated clients.”

As part of the transaction, Corient’s private partnership model, under which more than 260 partners own and operate the firm, will be extended to the international operations.

“The partnership allows us to serve clients differently. Unlike most wealth management models that limit the client experience to a single advisor, the Corient partnership fosters teamwork across our expansive roster of experienced advisors and other professionals – ensuring that clients benefit from the capabilities of the firm as a whole,” MacAlpine said.

Stonehage Fleming has more than $175 billion in combined assets – as well as offices in 12 jurisdictions. Services include cross-border and multi-generational structuring, wealth and investment management, governance and succession planning, legal and tax advisory, trust and fiduciary, philanthropic and art management services.

Stanhope Capital, founded in 2004 by Daniel Pinto, has almost $40 billion in assets. The firm provides services across wealth management, consulting, merchant banking and private investments.

The Stanhope Capital Group includes New York-based FWM Holdings, owner of FFT Wealth Management, a multi-family office founded by Keith M Bloomfield that provides investment management and family office services to UHNW families in the US and globally. Following the transaction, Bloomfield will join Corient as partner, vice chairman.

Upon closing of the transactions, the business will operate globally as Corient.

Giuseppe Ciucci, executive chairman of Stonehage Fleming, will be partner and chairman; Pinto will be partner and CEO of Corient’s international business. Both will join Corient’s global board of directors.

Stuart Parkinson, CEO of Stonehage Fleming, will be partner and president of Corient’s international business. Ciucci, Pinto and other members of their executive teams will become partners and significant equity holders in Corient. Ciucci, Pinto and Parkinson will report to MacAlpine as partner and CEO of Corient.

The Corient business was founded as a result of Canada-headquartered CI Financial’s drive to buy a raft of mostly US wealth management firms, starting in 2020. This led to the creation of a standalone US wealth management firm, rebranded in 2023 as Corient. It now has more than 260 partners and 1,300 employees managing more than about $216 billion for UHNW and HNW clients, firms and families in the US. In May 2023, CI Financial closed its previously-announced sale of a 20 per cent minority investment in its US wealth management business. (CI Financial has itself been taken private, having been previously listed in Toronto. It is now owned by an affiliate of funds managed by Mubadala Capital, an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund.)

Jefferies is serving as lead financial advisor and Goldman Sachs serving as financial advisor to Corient. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is serving as legal counsel to Corient. Spencer House Partners is serving as financial advisor and Macfarlanes is serving as legal counsel to Stonehage Fleming. Rothschild & Co is serving as financial advisor and Macfarlanes is serving as lead legal counsel to Stanhope Capital alongside Dechert and Borel & Barbey.

(Editor’s note: There is much to digest in this transaction. Stonehage Fleming and Stanhope Capital have long prided themselves as being standalone, independent wealth management firms offering a family office-style service model. With any M&A, it is always important to remember the end clients – will they value the increased scale and capabilities of a larger firm enough to compensate for any sense that they are now among a far larger pool of clients? Will the cultures of these different US and European organisations fit over time?

As the aforementioned AITI Global saga suggests, American wealth management is diversifying internationally, eager to reach into fresh markets, including those of the Middle East and Asia, and to take advantage of a shift in wealth. In the UK, for example, both Stonehage Fleming and Stanhope Capital will have seen the impact of UHNW families looking to relocate outside the UK because of rising taxes; they have the cross-border capabilities, for example, to help such clients. Corient, as a hitherto purely US business, will need expertise from outside to handling this sort of undertaking. And with the US turning more protectionist in trade terms, it is nevertheless striking to see a North American business forging international business alliances and connections. That looks like a medium-term approach.)