Booster is to embark on a corporate entity restructure to bring the Wellington-headquartered investment group into line with modern business practices.
Under the change due to be confirmed by shareholders via a scheme of arrangement, Booster will form a new overarching company as well as a middle holding entity.
Paul Foley, Booster executive chair, said the firm has operated under the Booster Financial Services (BFS) holding company structure since inception in 1998 – although it has changed names a couple of times.
Briefly known as Rutherford Investment Services, the-then funds management and distribution business adopted the Grosvenor Financial Services brand in May 1998 before rebooting as Booster in 2016.
Currently, Booster has about $8 billion in assets under management including $5.7 billion in its KiwiSaver scheme as well as a diversified suite of products now spilling over into debit card and insurance services.
The new holding company would act “as parent of the expanded group”, Foley said in a statement.
“There is no change to ownership or control and the steps to be taken are not part of any other transaction or change to Booster’s operations,” he said.
“Current shareholders in BFS will exchange those shares on a 1:1 basis for shares in a new company Booster Group Limited. Once completed, the group structure will better reflect a structure common across many businesses.”
Booster has 12 listed shareholders but the bulk (almost 90 per cent) of ownership is held through a nominee entity featuring Foley and company founder, Allan Yeo, as directors: both also serve as BFS directors along with Mark Tume.
The group has also formed several operational companies over the years to house its various funds management, private investment and other business lines – all under the BFS holding entity.
Booster Financial Services Group and Booster Group were registered on August 14 but await formal shareholder approval before a full-blooded corporate switch.
According to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) notice granting Booster exemption from disclosing certain information during the process, the scheme of arrangement would be “overseen by the High Court which will need to be satisfied that the Scheme documents (including the Scheme booklet) include sufficient information for Existing Shareholders to make an informed decision as to how to vote on the Scheme”.
The Booster investment arm, including the KiwiSaver scheme, reported a net profit after tax of almost $7.3 million for the 12 months to June 30, 2024, on revenue of about $74 million.
In March this year, Di Papadopoulos, took over as Booster chief from founder Yeo, who assumed the managing director title.
The company is also facing a landmark FMA legal action over alleged governance breaches in some private asset funds with the case due to air in February 2027.