Eaton Vance Acquires Interest in Hexavest

Eaton Vance Corp. (“Eaton Vance”) indirectly acquired 49 per cent of the issued and outstanding shares of Hexavest Inc. (“Hexavest”). The acquisition was effected by way of a share purchase agreement. The employee shareholders of Hexavest will continue to control the company and direct its operations. The parties executed various other agreements in the context of the share purchase pursuant to which Eaton Vance will assume primary responsibility for Hexavest's new business development outside of Canada and will launch mutual funds in the US and offshore markets to be sub-advised by Hexavest. The value of the transaction was undisclosed.

Based in Montreal, Hexavest provides discretionary management of equity and tactical asset allocation strategies to institutions in Canada, the United States, Europe and the Asia Pacific region using a predominantly top-down investment style. As of June 30, 2012, Hexavest managed $10.6 billion of client assets invested primarily in global and global ex-US equity mandates.

Eaton Vance is one of the oldest investment management firms in the United States, with a history dating to 1924. Eaton Vance and its affiliates managed $192.3 billion in assets as of June 30, 2012, offering individuals and institutions a broad array of investment strategies and wealth management solutions.

Eaton Vance was represented in-house by Frederick Marius (Vice President and Chief Legal Officer). Borden Ladner Gervais LLP acted as Canadian counsel to Eaton Vance with a team that included Carol Derk and Anick Morin (investment management); Fred Enns, Patricia Galella, Neil Hazan, Dolores Di Felice, Marsha Gerhart, Yaniv Saragosti and Réda Ray Saad (corporate, securities); Stephen Fyfe (tax) and Patrick Trent (employment). K&L Gates LLP acted as US counsel to Eaton Vance with a team that included Richard Thorpe and Michelle Repp (corporate, securities) and Douglas Charton (investment management).

Hexavest was represented in-house by Michel Lajoie (Vice President, Compliance and Legal Affairs, Chief Compliance Officer). Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP acted as counsel to Hexavest with a team including Robert Paré, Sylvie Bourdeau and Constantinos Ragas (corporate, securities); François Brais and Élise Renaud (investment management); Claude Auger (tax) and Louise Béchamp (employment). Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green, P.A. acted as US counsel to Hexavest and was represented by Michael Drooff (investment management).