Biggest investor in Australia's Perpetual bids $2 billion to take over the company (updated)

Washington H. Soul Pattinson and

06/12/2023 06:28

(Adds deal detail from second paragraph)
    By Scott Murdoch
       Dec 6 (Reuters) - Australian diversified investor
Washington H Soul Pattinson (WHSP)  SOL.AX  has made a A$3.1
billion ($2 billion) bid for domestic fund manager Perpetual
 PPT.AX  in the latest sign of consolidation in the country's
wealth management sector.
        WHSP is Perpetual's largest shareholder with a 9.9%
stake and the bid came hours after Perpetual said it was
undertaking a strategic review of its business.
    The indicative non-binding scrip bid values Perpetual at
A$27 a share which is a 28.6% premium to its share price on Nov.
13 when WHSP revealed an increased stake in the company.
    Under the bid, Perpetual's asset mangement business would be
spun off and distributed back to Perpetual's existing
shareholders, WHSP said in a statement.
    WHSP would retain ownership of Perpetual's wealth management
and corporate trust businesses.
    "WHSP believes the complexity of the Perpetual group
together with the current market backdrop and Perpetual's high
financial leverage is weighing on the share price and
constraining Perpetual's strategic flexibility," the firm said
in a statement.
    
   
($1 = 1.5184 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Additional reporting by
Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
 ((Archishma.Iyer@thomsonreuters.com;))