Perpetual has confirmed it is in talks with global investment company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) regarding the sale of its corporate trust and wealth management businesses.
In a statement to the ASX, the firm responded to media speculation and confirmed it is in exclusive talks with the business.
“There is no certainty of reaching a binding agreement, or that any transaction would proceed,” the firm said. “Any transaction would be subject to conditions including regulatory approvals.”
Perpetual added that exclusivity will expire on Tuesday, 7 May, with the firm expected to provide a detailed update by Wednesday, 8 May 2024.
“Perpetual will continue to keep the market informed in line with its continuous disclosure obligations.”
In its recent quarterly results for the three months to 31 March, the firm said the corporate trust division continued to grow and that its debt markets services and managed funds services businesses remained resilient in a higher interest rate environment.
In wealth management, total funds under advice were $20 billion, up 5 per cent from the previous quarter. Net flows were flat but market movements contributed $0.9 billion. The firm said it has improved its wealth management product offering and launched a new ESG reporting offering which is marketed towards its high-net-worth and philanthropic segments.
In December, the firm announced a strategic review and the results of these are expected to be delivered by 8 May.
This has already resulted in the decision to combine the Perpetual and Pendal multi-asset businesses to create one team, the Perpetual Multi Asset Strategies team. The new team is led by Perpetual’s current head of multi-asset, Michael O’Dea, and marks the departure of Michael Blayney as the portfolio manager of these funds.
It has also appointed Charles River – part of State Street – to manage the front office operations of its Australian asset management business. This will see it adopt the Charles River Investment Management Solution (Charles River IMS) to manage its domestic and global portfolios, order and execution, compliance, post trade processing, and front office data.
