In an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held on 22 September, Platinum shareholders voted on a range of motions, including director appointments and the firm’s name change to L1 Group with the ASX ticker of L1G.
In total, nine resolutions were proposed, and all were carried either as an ordinary or special resolution. The two firms had entered into binding terms in July, having first mooted the possible merger back in May 2025.
The decision to merge the companies received approval from an independent expert last week in the absence of a superior or competing proposal.
In his EGM address to shareholders, Platinum chair Guy Strapp said if the deal was approved, they would benefit from an enlarged group through exposure to a market-leading investment platform of listed equities and alternative investment strategies.
Strapp also spruiked the benefits of having a growing, scalable and well-diversified investment management business with a diversified client base across institutional, wholesale, high-net-worth, and retail investors in Australia and globally, along with the preservation of ongoing balance sheet strength to support investment in accretive growth opportunities.
The chair added that the potential to deliver annual pre-tax net synergy and cost savings benefits of $20 million and to be materially EPS accretive for shareholders was another advantage of the deal.
Specifically, the merger is expected to be double-digit EPS accretive in the next 12 months following completion and over 30 per cent EPS accretive for shareholders in FY2026–27 (the first full fiscal year post-completion).
On the other hand, if the deal had been voted down, Strapp warned this would expose Platinum shareholders to risks that could impact the value of their shares and the risk of further fund outflows, which had already taken a toll on the firm’s FUM in recent months.
“If the merger is approved by shareholders today, Platinum will acquire 100 per cent of Class A, Class B, founder and ordinary shares in L1 Capital,” he said.
“In return, the existing L1 Capital shareholder will be issued with new ordinary shares in Platinum, resulting in those L1 Capital shareholders holding approximately 74 per cent and existing Platinum shareholders holding approximately 26 per cent of the issued share capital in the merged group immediately after competition of the merger.”
It is also expected that Anne Loveridge, Philip Moffitt, and James Simpson will resign from the Platinum board upon completion, while Jane Stewart and Neil Chatfield are set to be appointed.
Earlier this year, Morningstar equity analyst Shaun Ler said the combined entity will have greater asset class and client diversity, which would facilitate cross-selling and customer retention.
“The merger injects new life into Platinum, helping to arrest the organic decline of its business by merging with another asset manager that has better-performing products experiencing inflows. It also potentially unlocks value by eliminating duplicate costs,” Ler said.
“This should help stabilise funds under management and improve earnings, mainly from cross-selling L1’s product set to Platinum clients.”
