Street Talk

Perpetual v ATO: $2.2b deal hangs in the balance

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Dec 10, 2024 – 3.29pm

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Tuesday morning brought the early Christmas gift no one (except maybe the taxpayer) wanted – not Perpetual, its shareholders, its staff, nor its private equity suitor, KKR.

Before the open, the 138-year-old investment house stunned the market, revealing its $170 million-odd estimated tax bill stemming from its break-up and sale to KKR had ballooned to between $493 million and $529 million. This means the estimated cash proceeds to shareholders from the transaction would fall to $5.74 to $6.42 per share from $8.38 to $9.82 per share.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.