‘Enter the big leagues’: Desjardins president on landmark $1.67 billion Guardian deal

Nicolas Richard, President and COO of DGAM at Desjardins, and George Mavroudis, President and CEO of Guardian Capital Group, joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss Desjardins buying Guardian for $1.67 billion.

A senior executive at Desjardins Group says he’s “thrilled” at the prospect of establishing a powerhouse financial services firm after the company announced a $1.67 billion acquisition.

Montreal-based Desjardins said Thursday it will purchase Guardian Capital Group Limited and take the publicly traded company private, according to a news release.

“We’re thrilled about it, it’s a scale business, and it’s going to allow us to enter the big leagues in the asset management world,” Nicolas Richard, president and COO of Desjardins Global Asset Management, told BNN Bloomberg in a Thursday interview.

The all-cash transaction, subject to court, shareholder and regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

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Desjardins is a cooperative financial group with assets of $501.3 billion and over 57,200 employees. It offers a full range of products and services to individuals and businesses through its distribution network, online platforms, and its subsidiaries across Canada and North America, according to the company.

Guardian services institutional, retail and private clients through its subsidiaries, the release said. As of June 30, it had $164.1 billion of client assets while managing an investment portfolio with a fair market value of $1.25 billion.

“We have been in a number of different other diversified financial businesses over the years, but we’ve really focused our efforts on asset management recently, having sold our wealth business a couple of years ago under the brand of Worldsource to Desjardins,” George Mavroudis, Guardian president and CEO, told BNN Bloomberg in a Thursday interview.

Mavroudis will be appointed CEO of the combined business and lead an executive team overseeing the strategic direction of the overall asset management business. Richard will join that executive team.

“It will be the platform that Desjardins will be supporting for us to continue to build on the vision we have, building a competitive, global asset management business,” said Mavroudis.

Through the deal, the companies aim to expand their scale and reach, delivering customized solutions to more members and clients, while enhancing capabilities and enabling a broader suite of investment solutions in the private and public markets.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved as a Canadian headquartered company that has truly invested abroad and built a competitive capability,” said Mavroudis. “I think that was one of the attractions for Desjardins to want to partner with us and continue our efforts and our ambitions to grow.”

Desjardins says the acquisition will place $280 billion in assets under management and advisement. It says Guardian’s strong international footprint, with operations across North America, Europe, and other global markets, complements the strengths of Desjardins in Canada, particularly in Quebec, creating a more dynamic and competitive asset management platform.

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“We had known each other for a while because of the first acquisition,” said Richard. “We have had successful discussions. We feel like we were really a good fit. We feel we share the same culture and so that led to a fun and collaborative process.”

Desjardins has made a number of strategic mergers and acquisitions in recent years. The company previously acquired The Insurance Company of Prince Edward Island in 2024 and Guardian’s life insurance, mutual fund and investment distribution networks, which closed in 2023.