Carlyle Group is leading a consortium of institutional investors providing approximately AUD600m ($387m) in preferred equity to support CC Capital Partners’ acquisition of ASX-listed Insignia Financial, according to a report by Bloomberg citing sources familiar with the matter.
The transaction, valued at approximately AUD3.3bn, will see CC Capital – the investment firm led by former Blackstone executive Chinh Chu – and One Investment Management acquire Insignia at AUD4.80 per share. Competing bids had previously been considered from Bain Capital and Brookfield.
The deal underscores growing global investor appetite for exposure to Australia’s AUD4.1tn retirement and wealth management sector – the fourth-largest pool of pension assets globally.
Notably, KKR had explored a carve-out of Perpetual’s wealth and trust businesses before abandoning talks following an adverse tax interpretation.
In addition to the preferred equity tranche, the buyout is being supported by a fully underwritten AUD1.9bn-equivalent, seven-year Term Loan B. UBS, Santander, Deutsche Bank, Natixis, and Nomura are acting as joint underwriters on the debt package.
