Macquarie Group Eyes Dexia Amid Hunt For Annuity Growth - Official
April 27 2012 - 5:01AM
Dow Jones News
Macquarie Group (MQG.AU) is mulling acquisitions in the funds
management industry, including Ausbil Dexia, in the hope of
expanding its best-performing business of the past year, Deputy
Managing Director Greg Ward said Friday.
Ward said funds management businesses such as Ausbil Dexia,
which has been put on the block as part of the sale of its
Franco-Belgian parent Dexia Asset Management, could be attractive
as Macquarie looks to expand its footprint in its growth businesses
of corporate and asset finance, banking and financial services.
"We're more interested in the annuity-style businesses," he told
Dow Jones Newswires. "We would look at that (Ausbil Dexia). We're
looking at a whole range of things."
Australia's largest investment bank on Friday reported a 24%
drop slump in annual net profit to the lowest level in eight years
after a slowdown in corporate dealmaking and trading income dragged
on its securities and investment banking business.
Yet despite the widely flagged slump in profits and the imminent
start of a 500 million Australian dollar share buyback, Macquarie
remains well-capitalized enough to pursue a selective acquisition
strategy, Chief Executive Nicholas Moore told reporters. The group
holds A$3.5 billion in excess of minimum regulatory capital
requirements on a harmonized Basell III basis, it said in a
statement
Macquarie has long been an opportunistic buyer. In 2009, it
bought U.S-based Delaware Investments in a move that has boosted
its income from the U.S. to around 30% of the group total in the
past two years, up from 8% previously. In recent weeks it has also
been linked to acquiring ING Groep NV's Asian-based asset
management arm as well as other Australia-based fund managers.
But speaking at a media briefing after the bank's results, Moore
hinted that any acquisition would have to present a compelling
return on investment to tempt Macquarie to spend its hard-earned
cash.
"There are less opportunities out there than we saw than during
the crisis," he said. "Things have basically re-priced to a level
where we don't see exceptional returns in the market the way we saw
with the motor leasing portfolio" that the bank bought for A$1
billion in 2009.
-By Caroline Henshaw, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4680;
caroline.henshaw@dowjones.com
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