Jarden is readying to approve a much-mooted wealth management merger, according to Australian media reports.
It is understood Jarden shareholders are due to vote on the restructure proposal next week that would see the NZ wealth business folded into a new trans-Tasman entity with a 75 per cent majority necessary to carry the deal.
Under the plan reiterated in The Australian last week, the National Australia Bank (NAB) owned JBWere would own almost half of the combined business with private equity player Pacific Equity Partners taking up to 35 per cent and Jarden the remainder.
According to Australian press, the to-be-formed group would comprise some NAB NZ assets including the BNZ KiwiSaver and retail funds arm, the JBWere business as well as the Jarden wealth management network and Harbour Asset Management. Jarden also has a 25 per cent stake in the Hatch Invest joint venture formed with FNZ last August.
Meanwhile, Jarden has formed three new numerically labelled entities in NZ – Jarden One, Two and Three – while reserving the names of a further three companies centring on wealth and asset management.
The deal values both Jarden and JBWere NZ wealth operations at $250 million each with the BNZ KiwiSaver and funds division worth a further $150 million, The Australian says.
If the roll-up proceeds as planned, Jarden would reportedly pocket some $60 million to pay down debt accrued to fund its foray into the Australian investment banking market. Jarden separated out the Australian investment bank as a stand-alone entity last year.
The Jarden Australia investment bank “stands to make about [A]$10m in fees” as an adviser to Origin Energy, The Australian reported, if a fraught takeover deal gets across the line.
Regardless, the publication tipped the Jarden-JBWere wealth management tie-up would be approved by December 14 with “former Blackstone executive Malcolm Jackson to run the new unit.
Jackson was named head of Jarden wealth and asset management last year after joining the firm in 2021 as chief financial officer.
“Jarden doesn’t comment on market speculation,” a spokesperson for the group said.
Meanwhile, local industry chatter suggests the sale of Hobson Wealth to Forsyth Barr is likely just days away following weeks of speculation.
Potential buyers have been circling Hobson for months with Forsyth Barr understood to have clinched the deal.
Hobson would add more than $4 billion under management and 35 advisers to Dunedin-headquartered Forsyth Barr chain, which boasts over 200 advisers and $20 billion plus of client assets.
The M&A temperature in the NZ financial services sector has, anyway, turned up considerably in the final months of 2023 with private equity firm, TA Associates, also allegedly looking to offload its 34 per cent stake in Fisher Funds.