Having completed the acquisitions of Merricks Capital and Argyle Group, Regal Partners’ funds under management (FUM) has risen 34 per cent to $16.5 billion.
In an update of the progress of two transactions, it said the acquisition of Merricks Capital for $235 million was completed on 9 July and the purchase of a 40 per cent stake in Argyle Group for $12 million completed on 26 July.
The addition of $2.9 billion from Merricks and $1.4 billion from Argyle Group brings the firm’s FUM to $16.5 billion. This is up from $12.3 billion at the end of June 2024, a rise of 34 per cent.
In particular, FUM in the real and natural assets, which Argyle specialises in, rose from $739 million to more than $2 billion, while FUM in credit and royalties almost doubled from $3.2 billion to $6.1 billion.
Merricks is a private capital and alternative investment specialist, while Argyle is a specialist asset manager of Australian water entitlement portfolios based in Queensland.
Merricks manages approximately $2.9 billion across three dedicated funds and a number of co-investment vehicles for a broad range of wholesale wealth advisory firms, institutional client groups and family offices.
Argyle was founded in 2007 and based in Brisbane, focusing on investing in water and agriculture on behalf of domestic and offshore institutional investors, private wealth advisory groups and direct wholesale investors.
Regal Partners said it has upgraded its previous guidance for estimated performance fee revenue in the first half of calendar year 2024 from $55–56 million to $59 million.
“Performance fees have been driven primarily by a range of Regal Funds Management strategies, including Australian Small Companies, Resources Long Short, Tactical Opportunities, Resources Royalties and the Regal Investment Fund, as well as funds relating to the PM Capital global strategy.”
Regal Partners has been one of the most active players on the M&A scene; as well as the Merricks and Argyle deals, it acquired PM Capital at the end of 2023 and later took a 50 per cent stake in Taurus Funds Management, a specialist provider of mining finance and royalties.
In a recent shareholder update, chief executive Brendan O’Connor said the investment manager continues “to monitor a range of opportunities to add additional scale”.
“This may include smaller bolt-ons as well as larger transactions. But whatever we explore must not hamper our existing runway for growth, which is substantial.”
