Why did Regal back out of Platinum bid?
Regal Partners has expanded on its decision to walk away from a potential acquisition of Platinum as it shares its full-year results.
It was announced in September that Regal was considering an acquisition of Platinum Asset Management, but its first offer of 0.274 Regal shares for each Platinum share was initially rejected. A subsequent announcement led to the firm being granted an exclusive period of due diligence that lasted two months.
However, in December, the firm said it had terminated these discussions.
"Platinum advises that discussions with Regal have ceased, removing the uncertainty that has persisted since Platinum rejected Regal’s initial proposal,” Platinum told the ASX at the time.
Speaking on a results webinar, CEO Brendan O’Connor expanded on why the firm opted to walk away from the deal.
He said: “We walked away from Platinum because we couldn’t agree on a price. Our great concern was that funds under management were eroding faster than we could get our head around. We couldn’t build sufficient conviction in the price that we were looking to pay so we walked away.”
FUM at Platinum has declined from $15.1 billion in January 2024 to $10.9 billion in January 2025 and, in its recent results, it said it had seen $1.6 billion in outflows from retail investors.
While it opted to decline an acquisition of Platinum, it did acquire 100 per cent of alternative investment specialist Merricks Capital, a 50 per cent stake in Taurus Funds Management and a minority stake in Argyle Group during the calendar year.
Asked by an analyst about any further acquisition pipeline opportunities, O’Connor said: “It would be areas or individual teams or businesses that would expand our capability or diversify our offering so that could be a combination of retail distribution and capabilities in areas where we are underweight.
“We’d like to do a lot more in credit but there are other alternative asset classes that we are not in today that we would like to enter.
“Private equity is certainly part of an alternative house and would be a natural fit but we have nothing to announce in the short term.”
In the firm’s full-year results, it said it has $18 billion in funds under management, up 64 per cent from $11 billion in 2023, and a statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) of $66.2 million. Net inflows were $1.9 billion and $600 million of these came from offshore investors that the firm said is a strategic priority.
It particularly noted accelerated inflows into multi-strategy products that highlight ongoing demand for diversified, alternative vehicles.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
AUSIEX has announced it will acquire FIIG, a specialist fixed income provider with $4.5 billion in funds under advice.
Platinum Asset Management has announced it is in discussions with a global alternatives fund manager regarding a possible merger to create an $18 billion firm.
JP Morgan Asset Management has appointed an ETF specialist from Vanguard as it seeks to expand its ETF range.
The alternative asset manager has expanded its Singapore office with a head of Asian distribution, representing a “critical step” for the Asian business, where it is seeking to launch new offerings.
