(Bloomberg) -- Stifel Financial Corp. agreed to buy GMP Capital Inc.’s advisory and trading business for about C$70 million ($52 million), adding the core unit at one of Canada’s last independent investment-banking firms.

The cash purchase by the St. Louis-based bank excludes GMP’s U.S. cannabis business and its 33% stake in the Richardson GMP money-management firm, the companies said in statements Monday.

GMP is a Toronto-based investment bank that has traditionally focused on energy and mining and has targeted the cannabis business since Canada legalized pot last year. The bank has struggled to compete with the larger Canadian lenders, and has suffered from a slump in oil and gas deals. The stock traded at C$2.02 Friday, down more than 90% from a peak of C$28 in 2006.

The move would give Stifel a foothold in Canada to diversify a business in which nearly 95% of revenue comes from the U.S. GMP Capital’s market value is about C$152 million, while Stifel’s is more than $4 billion. GMP Chief Executive Officer Harris Fricker will join Stifel.

GMP said it plans to focus on wealth management after the deal with Stifel, and is in talks to buy 100% of Toronto-based Richardson GMP, which has assets of about C$30 billion.

“With this sale, the GMP board intends to deploy the corporation’s strong capital position to focus and invest heavily in wealth management, where we see significant opportunities to partner with the Richardson family, our top-performing investment advisers and management at Richardson GMP to create significant long-term value for shareholders,” Chairman Don Wright said in his company’s statement.

--With assistance from Derek Wallbank.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Scanlan in Toronto at dscanlan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chua Baizhen at bchua14@bloomberg.net, Daniel Taub, Steve Dickson

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.