Bain Capital has secured an AUD430m ($299m) leveraged loan to support its acquisition of the Australian wealth management unit of Perpetual, according to a report by Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter.
The five-year facility is reportedly being underwritten by a consortium of banks and will be syndicated to a broader group of lenders. Banks involved in the underwriting include BNP Paribas, HSBC, CTBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Natixis, RBC Capital Markets and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group.
The financing adds to a pickup in acquisition-related lending activity in Australia, despite continued volatility in global credit markets. A number of large-scale financings are currently in the market, including a potential AUD3bn facility linked to Sembcorp Industries’ proposed acquisition of Alinta Energy, and an AUD4.95bn loan backing a Macquarie Asset Management-led logistics deal.
Perpetual has been seeking to divest its wealth management arm for around two years as part of a broader restructuring. A previous attempt to sell the unit to KKR fell through following an unexpected tax liability.
