Leo Noé and Ivor Smith are retiring from BMO Real Estate Partners (BMO REP) and have sold their stakes in the company.
Noé, the chairman, and Smith, a partner and board member, have sold their combined interest of 30% to F&C Asset Management, part of BMO Global Asset Management, which now has full ownership.
Noé founded REIT Asset Management in 1997, which merged with F&C in 2008. F&C itself was bought by BMO in 2014.
Some assets, including contracts for the management of Noé family trust assets, will be demerged from BMO REP and returned to Noé and his family in August.
Noé family trust assets in Germany will remain under the management of BMO REP in Munich.
Angus Henderson, head of business development, and Ian Kelley, fund director Europe and head of France, have been appointed to the executive committee of BMO REP.
Noé will become non-executive chairman.
BMO Global Asset Management, which owns a number of investment subsidiaries, said the deal supported its “strategy as a global multi-asset class manager to own 100% of its investment boutique businesses where possible”.
The company, headquartered in Toronto, has global assets of CAD692bn (€488bn). BMO REP had €8.26bn in assets under management at the middle of last year, according to IPE Real Estate’s Top 100 investment management survey.
Richard Wilson, CEO of BMO Global Asset Management, said: “BMO REP remains core to our offering as a global multi-asset class manager of global significance.”
