Wilshire Associates, the California-based advisory and investment firm, announced Friday that it will be acquired by private equity firms Motive Partners and CC Capital.
No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close by the end of this year.
Wilshire Associates, founded by chief executive and chairman Dennis Tito, is one of the largest institutional investment consultants, with over $1 trillion in assets under advisement and $73 billion in assets under management. The firm, which also offers analytics and outsourced-CIO services, has been employee-owned since its founding in 1972.
“Today’s announcement positions Wilshire for an exciting future and provides us with the ability to continue delivering client-focused solutions and services that are both forward-looking and utilize the full depth of expertise we have to offer,” Wilshire’s chief operating officer Jason Schwarz said in a statement. “The collective expertise and industry leadership at CC Capital and Motive will support our focus on innovation and enhancing capabilities within our current offerings, while maintaining a client-centric operating model.”
Motive Partners is a private equity firm focused on “growth and buyout investments in technology-enabled financial services companies,” according to the statement. New York-based CC Capital, founded in 2015 by Blackstone alum Chinh Chu, said it focuses on “investing in and operating high-quality businesses for the long term.”
The two private investment firms said in the announcement that they plan to focus on enhancing Wilshire’s technology and data and analytics capabilities, as well as introduce new investment products and expand the firm’s geographic footprint.
Tito will step down as chief executive and chairman when the sale is complete, as will president and vice chairman John Hindman. Schwarz will continue to lead the investment and portfolio analytics businesses as chief operating officer, while also assuming the role of president, according to the announcement Friday.
