Sun Life Financial Acquires the Bentall Kennedy Group

On September 1, 2015, Sun Life Financial Inc. completed the acquisition of the Bentall Kennedy Group from its previous owners, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC), The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and Bentall Kennedy's management team, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $560 million.

Bentall Kennedy is a specialized real estate investment manager operating in Canada and the United States. It also provides property management and leasing services in Canada. Bentall Kennedy will become the real estate investment management platform of Sun Life Investment Management, Sun Life's asset management division. The two firms will combine their real estate and commercial mortgage investment management teams to have approximately $48 billion in assets under management, serving over 550 institutional clients and investors in these asset classes.

McCarthy Tétrault LLP acted as counsel to Sun Life in Canada with a team that included Garth Girvan, Matthew Cumming, Leslie Milroy, Jake Irwin and Matthew Griffin (M&A/Corporate); Gabrielle Richards and Amanda Laren (Tax); Oliver Borgers and Jonathan Bitran (Regulatory); Barry Ryan, Nancy Carroll and Sean Sadler (Financial Institutions); Tim Lawson and Patrick Pengelly (Employment); and Mark Firman (Pensions & Benefits).