Mackenzie financial Corp. is acquiring Vancouver-based Cundill Investment Research Ltd. for an undisclosed price, in a deal that’s being called a “natural evolution” of the eight-year partnership between the two firms.

Cundill currently subadvises on more than $12.5 billion in assets for Toronto-based Mackenzie, including the top-rated Mackenzie Cundill Value Fund. Cundill also manages more than $3 billion in assets for a global base of institutional and high net-worth clients.

“Our No. 1 priority was getting the entire Mackenzie management team under one umbrella, and I think this is a win-win for both parties,” says David Feather, president of Mackenzie Financial in Toronto.

He adds that Cundill’s private-client and institutional businesses, particularly those in the U.S., were attractive assets for Mackenzie, which historically has not had a lot of experience in those areas.

Cundill president Lisa Pankratz says virtually nothing will change for her firm’s management team. “We’re characterizing this as a natural evolution of an existing relationship,” says Pankratz, who has signed a six-year commitment as part of the transaction. “From our clients’ perspective, they will notice absolutely no difference. It’s the same management team, and all the back-office and administrative staff are coming on.”

Although the acquisition appears to present a perfect opportunity for Cundill’s 67-year-old founder, Peter Cundill, to step down, he’s not going anywhere, Pankratz says. The award-winning manager has agreed to stay on as chief investment officer for at least three years, and will probably “never stop investing,” she adds. “He’s reading, thinking and talking to companies every single day of his life. He loves what he does.”

The deal is expected to close by the end of September. All members of Cundill’s investment-management team have agreed to stay on for a minimum of six years — with the exception of Brian McDermott and John Talbot, both of whom will retire in 2007. IE