Private equity’s Peter Wiggs thumbs nose at public opinion

A leading private equity manager has expressed indifference to public opinion on the doomed Dick Smith float.

Peter Wiggs told the private equity and venture capital conference in Melbourne his industry had been “slandered”. Picture: Liam Kidston

One of the nation’s leading private equity managers, Archer Capital boss Peter Wiggs, has expressed complete indifference to public opinion over the doomed float of Dick Smith, saying private equity insiders had no interest in reflecting on the bad publicity flowing from the retailer’s demise.

During the Australian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association conference in Melbourne yesterday, Mr Wiggs, when pressed about the possible reputational damage in the wake of Dick Smith’s collapse, retorted: “Who cares?’’ and said none of his backers or partners could care less either.

“The great thing is that no one who is important in private equity cares what the financial press says about it. My LPs (limited partners) don’t care, my advisers don’t care, I certainly don’t care,’’ Mr Wiggs declared.

Mr Wiggs and Archer Capital were not involved in the Dick Smith float, however the industry has faced persistent questions about reputation in the wake of the retailer’s fast demise.

Mr Wiggs, who is chairman of V8 Supercars, a director of Allity Aged Care and on the board of the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation, said the national media was always looking to “slander’’ his industry and feed on “bad news”.

“I have been doing private equity for 22 or 23 years or something, and never a year goes past without private equity’s name being slandered across the front pages of the financial press.

“The financial press just loves bad news and it will find whatever angle it can to generate that. So, ‘who cares’ is my response.’’

Earlier this year the Senate launched an inquiry into the collapse of Dick Smith.

Dick Smith was bought from Woolworths by private equity firm Anchorage for about $90 million in 2012 and 15 months later sold to institutional and mum-and-dad investors in an IPO for $520m.

The retailer was placed in voluntary administration by January this year, with the loss of more than 3000 jobs, while shareholders lost their money. It was later revealed that Dick Smith might have underpaid 3200 workers as much as $2m, but did not inform the sharemarket at the time. Anchorage sold 80 per cent of its shareholding in Dick Smith via the IPO in December 2013, and later sold its remaining 20 per cent in September 2014.

“One, it wasn’t my deal so I have no view on it whatsoever,’’ Mr Wiggs said yesterday, “and secondly, I think I said it had no impact on Archer whatsoever, my investors still want to invest in me, my team still wants to work for me, and I still enjoy what I do.’’