Latest news with #ScottHartley
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Drawn-out battle ends with $3.3 billion takeover deal
The 179-year-old owner of MLC, Insignia Financial, has agreed to a takeover from private equity investors seeking to profit from Australia's $4.2 trillion superannuation system, ending a drawn-out battle to buy the wealth manager. On Tuesday Insignia, formerly known as IOOF, backed a $3.3 billion takeover from private equity firm CC Capital, bringing to a close a previous bidding war for the firm. ASX-listed Insignia agreed to the deal at $4.80 a share, which is a premium of more than 50 per cent to its share price before private equity giant Bain Capital made a bid for Insignia last year, igniting a series of rival bids. Bain's approach sparked a three-way contest for the business with CC Capital and Canadian giant Brookfield Capital earlier this year. Brookfield pulled out of the bidding war in March, while Bain dropped out in May, citing volatility on global markets. CC Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, is buying Insignia with an alternative asset manager called OneIM. The deal will be CC Capital's first investment in Australia, and it is subject to approvals from Insignia shareholders and authorities including the Foreign Investment Review Board and the prudential regulator. Loading Insignia is the fifth-biggest player in the super sector, where it owns MLC and various other brands, and this is a key attraction for the buyer. Insignia's predecessor, IOOF, was established in 1846 as the Independent Order of Oddfellows friendly society, and it ultimately listed on the ASX in 2003. Insignia's chief executive, Scott Hartley, said the business was well suited to being owned by CC Capital, which has a longer investment time frame than most private equity investors, giving it the ability to 'look through' market cycles. He argued this long-term horizon of CC meant it could focus strongly on members' interests. 'They understand that if you're not delivering competitive returns to members or competitive outcomes to members, whether it be returns, service, product features and structures, online capabilities, you are not going to be sustainable long-term,' he said.
The Age
3 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Drawn-out battle ends with $3.3 billion takeover deal
The 179-year-old owner of MLC, Insignia Financial, has agreed to a takeover from private equity investors seeking to profit from Australia's $4.2 trillion superannuation system, ending a drawn-out battle to buy the wealth manager. On Tuesday Insignia, formerly known as IOOF, backed a $3.3 billion takeover from private equity firm CC Capital, bringing to a close a previous bidding war for the firm. ASX-listed Insignia agreed to the deal at $4.80 a share, which is a premium of more than 50 per cent to its share price before private equity giant Bain Capital made a bid for Insignia last year, igniting a series of rival bids. Bain's approach sparked a three-way contest for the business with CC Capital and Canadian giant Brookfield Capital earlier this year. Brookfield pulled out of the bidding war in March, while Bain dropped out in May, citing volatility on global markets. CC Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, is buying Insignia with an alternative asset manager called OneIM. The deal will be CC Capital's first investment in Australia, and it is subject to approvals from Insignia shareholders and authorities including the Foreign Investment Review Board and the prudential regulator. Loading Insignia is the fifth-biggest player in the super sector, where it owns MLC and various other brands, and this is a key attraction for the buyer. Insignia's predecessor, IOOF, was established in 1846 as the Independent Order of Oddfellows friendly society, and it ultimately listed on the ASX in 2003. Insignia's chief executive, Scott Hartley, said the business was well suited to being owned by CC Capital, which has a longer investment time frame than most private equity investors, giving it the ability to 'look through' market cycles. He argued this long-term horizon of CC meant it could focus strongly on members' interests. 'They understand that if you're not delivering competitive returns to members or competitive outcomes to members, whether it be returns, service, product features and structures, online capabilities, you are not going to be sustainable long-term,' he said.
Forbes
20-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
A Tale Of Two Cities In Venture Capital
Like a desert and an oasis, there is a tale of two cities in venture capital 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.' On the heels of Super Venture & Super Return Berlin, and a LP/GP summit in Montreal organized by Inovia, I wanted to reflect on what felt like a panoramic view of the industry, across 1) managers of VC funds 2) startups raising capital and 3) incumbents in the public markets. What struck me most wasn't any one deal or datapoint, but the duality of two starkly different realities. The technology industry today, for startups and venture capital firms alike, is best described as a tale of two cities. In venture capital, the divergence could not be more stark. Research by Pitchbook demonstrated that nine firms collected 50% of all venture funding last year. The top 30 took the vast majority, across a few hundred firms that announced raises. At SuperReturn, partners from megafunds spoke about oversubscribed raises. Meanwhile, emerging managers are scraping to survive and define their edge. As Scott Hartley, co-founder and managing partner of Everywhere Ventures told me: 'For emerging managers differentiation is key, as venture returns heavily skew due to a long tail of large outcomes. While it may seem safer to get on-base at bats, median venture returns barely outpace other asset classes. The reason allocators look at VC is for asymmetric exposure, which means providing capital to yet undiscovered drivers of the future economy.' First-time and even second-time funds have faced arguably one of the hardest fundraising markets in history. Similar research from Pitchbook suggests a risk of certain emerging managers dying off. One panelist summed it up succinctly: 'Consolidation is the new diversification.' The gulf between the haves and have-nots is perhaps even more stark in startups, the companies VCs fund. Asaf Horresh of Vintage explained during his Super Venture keynote: 'if you're AI it's 2021'. Capital is flowing freely into foundation model startups, AI infrastructure plays, and workflow automation layers. Several venture firms have reoriented their entire sourcing around AI, and LPs are watching closely. But for nearly everyone else, Asaf put it perfectly: 'you're in the desert.' Even solid companies are seeing down rounds or resorting to insider-led bridges. The bar has never been higher. While I am nervous about nosebleed valuations and non-Camel strategies- the potential for AI justified. But the capital imbalance is striking. At SuperReturn, AI was on nearly every main stage. As Arpan Punyani, Co-Founder and General Partner at Garuda Ventures told me: 'Like the transistor, cloud, or mobile, AI is a foundational enabling technology. If you're not building an AI company at some level, the bar is just incredibly high to raise venture capital now.' Carta noted that seed deals are growing scarcer, demonstrating the growing scarcity. However, average valuations, pulled up by A.I. startups have increased. The other vector in startups was geography. Today, like it or not, capital is re-concentrating in the old capitals partially because of AI: San Francisco, London, Tel Aviv. Startups in non-central ecosystems are finding it that much harder to raise capital. From side conversations, there's a growing sense that global GPs need to 'earn the right' to go abroad again. The irony (and certainly central to my day job at Fluent Ventures) some of the best startups are being built in emerging ecosystems—with less burn, less competition, and lower valuations. The bifurcation is not limited to venture. In the public markets, the 'Magnificent Seven' (Nvidia, Meta, Apple, et al.) account for the lion's share of returns. Small caps and international equities remain underloved. It's the same pattern: consolidation of value, divergence of experience. In the technology industry, the power law is the rule of the game. But the magnitude of the power law is not. As exits increase, releasing DPI, market sentiment calms, and desire for diversification outside the U.S. grows, I expect much of this to normalize. But this will take time and there will certainly be collateral damage. But, as history tells us, sometimes, the revolution begins in the second city.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Insignia Bids Due Month-End for $2 Billion Takeover Battle
(Bloomberg) -- Insignia Financial Ltd. has called for binding takeover offers within the next two weeks from the private equity firms that have sought to take over the Australian pension manager. Progressive Portland Plots a Comeback Why American Mobility Ground to a Halt A Filmmaker's Surreal Journey Into His Own Private Winnipeg How to Build a Neurodiverse City SpaceX Bid to Turn Texas Starbase Into City Is Set for Vote in May Investment firms CC Capital Partners and Bain Capital have been asked to submit the offers before the end of the month, having met with the company's management in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The entry of late bidder Brookfield Asset Management's UK entity into the contest hasn't extended the timeline, the people said, asking not to be named as they weren't authorized to speak publicly. Representatives for Insignia, Bain, CC Capital and Brookfield declined to comment. The three firms have each independently put forward preliminary take-private proposals of A$4.60 per share, valuing Insignia at about A$3.1 billion ($2 billion). Insignia traces its roots back to 1846 with a business that now spans financial advice and the management of retirement savings. Chief Executive Officer Scott Hartley has said the firm is targeting affluent people in need of savings advice in Australia, home to a A$4 trillion pension industry that's growing fast. The deal marks a potential opportunity for an overseas private equity firm to cut costs and reduce debt at the Australian business. The Undocumented Workers Who Helped Build Elon Musk's Texas Gigafactory The Unicorn Boom Is Over, and Startups Are Getting Desperate Japan Perfected 7-Eleven. Why Can't the US Get It Right? The NBA Has Fallen Into an Efficiency Trap How Silicon Valley Swung From Obama to Trump ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
