Perpetual Guardian eyes $150 mln IPO by year-end

Tuesday 2nd August 2016

Perpetual Guardian, which embarked on a series of acquisitions over the past three years, plans to list its shares publicly by the end of 2016 in a $150 million initial public offering.

The Auckland-based financial services supervision firm said it plans to list in New Zealand and Australia, raising up to $150 million. It provided no details on what the funds raised would be used for.

"The market is in good health, investors are hungry for new listings and we expect plenty of interest in a quality fiduciary services business with a significant market share and great growth prospects," Barnes said. "Perpetual Guardian is performing strongly and has a very capable and experienced senior management team led by our CEO Grant Kemble."

Perpetual Guardian was the brainchild of Andrew Barnes, who began buying trustee firms in 2013 with the acquisition of Perpetual Trust and later went on to buy Guardian Trust. Since then the group has purchased Covenant Trustee Services, Foundation Corporate Trust and New Zealand Trustee Services and now oversees more than $130 billion of assets.

The fiduciary services business trades as Complectus, and is ultimately owned by Barnes' Bath Street Capital investment vehicle. Bath Street is locked in a dispute with Pyne Gould Corp over the Perpetual acquisition, which it has said slowed progress for the stock exchange listing and generated substantial costs. Both parties have filed claims in the High Court.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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