Christian Magoon is preparing a mass-adoption deal that would roughly double the size of his ETF shop.

Christian Magoon Amplify Investments LLC CEO

Last month, Magoon, founder and CEO of Amplify ETFs [profile], and Sam Masucci, founder and CEO of ETF Managers Group (ETFMG), confirmed that Lisle, Illinois-based Amplify has agreed to buy ETFMG's ETF lineup. The asset-only acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2023, pending approval from the ETFMG ETF shareholders and boards.

Pricing and terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed. Oppenheimer & Co advised Amplify on the deal, while Rockefeller Capital Management advised ETFMG. On the legal side, Vedder Price advised Amplify, while King & Spalding LLP advised ETFMG.

11-year-old ETFMG has more than $3.5 billion in AUM across 17 ETFs, while eight-year-old Amplify has more than $4.4 billion in AUM across 15 ETFs as of June 30. So, the deal would boost Amplify to more than $7.9 billion in AUM across 32 ETFs.

A spokesperson for Amplify confirms that the plan is for Amplify to adopt all 17 of ETFMG's ETFs, instead of merging them into existing Amplify ETFs. Stay tuned for word on what the deal will mean for the ETFMG ETFs' portfolio managers and subadvisors.

"Amplify Investments will be the investment advisor on a newly established series of ETFs as part of the Amplify ETF Trust that the ETFMG ETFs will reorganize into, pending requisite Board and shareholder approvals," the spokersperson tells MFWire via email. "We feel the respective ETF product lines are complementary and plan to reorganize them as standalone ETFs once all approvals and regulatory steps have been completed."

"All acquired funds will assume the Amplify brand," the spokesperson adds.

The Amplify-ETFMG deal comes about a year after a technology giant bought a sizable minority stake in Amplify. Magoon puts the ETFMG deal in the context of Amplify's "commitment to being at the forefront of ETF industry growth and innovation."

"We look forward to expanding the access and awareness of this compelling and differentiated product set," Magoon states.

"I am proud of the work our team has done over the last 11 years," Masucci states. "ETFMG has built a reputation for bringing innovative first-to-market thematic ETFs to investors and looks forward to their continued growth under the Amplify umbrella."

It's not clear what the Amplify deal will mean for the ETFMG team. A spokesperson for Amplify stresses that the deal will be an "asset-only acquisition." A spokesperson for ETFMG did not respond to requests for comment on what's next for Masucci and his ETFMG team after the Amplify deal. 

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