Gladiator strengthens Pengana business
Pengana Capital has received a significant capital injection through a deal struck by its holding company - Pengana Holdings - with a subsidiary of prominent investor Robert Whyte’s Audant Investments group.
The deal with Audant aligned Gladiator HFI will see the latter take a 35 per cent stake in Pengana Holdings through the issue of new shares.
Pengana’s chief executive Russel Pillemer says the Gladiator deal provides his group with substantial additional capital and a shareholder who can add value and expertise.
Audant is headed up by Whyte, who was a founding shareholder of Advance Bank prior to its merger with St George.
“Robert Whyte has been known for supporting industry stalwarts such as Robert Maple-Brown in their early days and I take Audant's involvement as a great vote of confidence in the ability of Pengana Holdings,” Pillemer says.
The Audant group has a solid track record of successfully investing in financial services businesses and in particular the wealth management industry.
Audant's Investment Committee is chaired by ex-head of County Natwest Peter Hall, with other members including the formerSealcorpchairman Geoff Dunstan.
Audant’s investment manager Prasad Patkar says his group’s decision stemmed from spending the past year researching business prospects in the alternative investment space.
Last week, Pengana fell over the line raising the required $30 million cut-off limit for its listed investment company - Pengana Managers — and now looks set to fulfil its target listing date next of Tuesday.
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