Wilson HTM Investment Group (Wilson) has shelved plans to find a strategic partner for Pinnacle Investment Management (Pinnacle) and will instead explore third-party interest for individual elements of the business.
Wilson managing director Andrew Coppin told InvestorDaily the company has received expressions of interest for the whole of Wilson’s 79.3 per cent interest in Pinnacle, however at this stage the company has opted not to proceed with a full transaction.
“We don’t think they [the expressions of interest] represent fair value,” Coppin said.
“But there are a number of other indicative offers that we have received for individual elements of the business that look significantly more attractive. So we will consider them.”
However, he said if a third-party expresses an interest in some other “structured deal” then Wilson will “entertain that too.”
The listed financial services firm informed the market yesterday of its focus on individual offers for the Pinnacle business.
The decision to explore potential partial share purchases of Wilson’s interests in Pinnacle’s eight boutique managers has always been an option, he said.
“As per the process when we first started, we remain open minded to talking to strategic investors who have an interest in this space and we are continuing to talk to the parties that expressed an interest but we felt it was appropriate that we update the market with where it is at,” he said.
Pinnacle is the parent vehicle of eight fund managers: Plato Investment Management, Hyperion Asset Management, Palisade Investment Partners, Resolution Capital Link, Solaris Investment Management, Pinnacle Private Equity, Capital International, and Sigma Funds Management.
Of these eight entities, Wilson owns between “20 and 50 per cent” of all of the underlying fund managers, Coppin said.
“We’re all very relaxed about this, it’s just we were going through the process so to maximise shareholder value – that is the critical thing,” he said.
“We’re doing this so that we can help them [Pinnacle] grow with the best strategic partners they can find.”
In February this year, Coppin told InvestorDaily Wilson received high levels of interest from parties seeking to partner or potentially purchase part of Pinnacle.
In October last year, Wilson HTM informed the market of its plans to seek a strategic partner for Pinnacle.
