August 2, 2022 — Canada’s TD Bank Group (Toronto Dominion) confirmed this morning the month-long speculation that it will acquire U.S.-based investment bank Cowen Inc.

The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, is for $39 a share — a 62% premium more than what it was trading for in early July — and values Cowen at $1.3 billion with an enterprise value of $1.9 billion.

TD plans to combine Cowen with its investment banking arm TD Securities to bolster its U.S. presence while expanding its investment banking business.

“Cowen is a leading independent dealer with a premier U.S. equities business and a strong, diversified investment bank that, when combined with TD Securities, will allow us to accelerate our strategic U.S. growth plans,” TD Bank Group President and CEO Bharat Masrani said in a press release announcing the purchase.

Cowen CEO Jeffrey Solomon will lead the newly combined TD Cowen and will report to Riaz Ahmed, President and CEO, TD Securities and Group Head, Wholesale Banking TD Bank Group.

Cowen was building a prolific presence in the automotive retail space. It represented RFJ Auto Partners in its $950.2 million sale to Sonic Automotive last December in one of the larger dealership acquisitions in history.

Also in December, it paid $122 million for boutique investment bank Portico Capital, which, in the last couple of years, has helped put together more than 25 transactions involving technology vendors in the automotive retail space.