Jarden and the National Australia Bank (NAB) have signed a well-signalled merger that will see its wealth management assets bundled up with similar BNZ and JBWere NZ businesses.
Under the deal confirmed this morning, pending Jarden shareholder approval, the National Australia Bank-owned JBWere group will own about half of the new entity created to hold the combined NZ wealth management firms with Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) to take up about 30 per cent, leaving 20 per cent for Jarden.
Both JBWere NZ and the Jarden wealth businesses – including the advisory arm, the Hatch joint venture with FNZ and Harbour Asset Management – would be valued at about $250 million apiece with the BNZ funds arm (including KiwiSaver) worth a further $150 million, according to Australian press.
“… NAB and Jarden Wealth will each receive a cash payment along with a retained shareholding of 45% and 20% respectively,” a release says. “PEP will acquire a 35% stake, with its investment used to fund the payments to NAB and Jarden. The new entity will be called FirstCape.”
The capital restructure will free up about $60 million in cash for Jarden to pay down debt accumulated to fund its Australian investment banking foray.
Both PEP and Jarden were contenders in the battle for Kiwi Wealth in 2021 before losing out to Fisher Funds.
The Jarden merger follows just a couple weeks on from the sale of Hobson Wealth to Forsyth Barr to create a combined NZ wealth management group with about $30 billion under management and more than 220 advisers.
According to a joint statement: “The creation of a leading wealth management business in New Zealand with a combined 113 advisers, NZ$29bn of funds under advice and administration and NZ$15bn of funds under management, including NZ$5bn of KiwiSaver funds under management.”
As well the deal would see:
- The opportunity to grow the BNZ KiwiSaver Scheme by expanding product offerings, leveraging Harbour’s asset management capability and BNZ’s distribution network.
- Operational efficiencies through scale, supported by simplification of processes and systems, which will deliver enhanced outcomes for clients and advisers.
Jarden wealth management chief, Malcolm Jackson, will lead the new enterprise.