North American private equity firm Brookfield is understood to have opened a data room to bidders for its $3bn-plus sale process to offload La Trobe Financial.
DataRoom understands that about 20 parties are looking, including private equity firms.
First-round offers are due in late July or early August.
it is understood that information memorandums have been sent out, and Brookfield is offering some data for parties to conduct a limited amount of due diligence.
While some have touted the possibility of a listing of La Trobe Financial on the ASX, it faces two obstacles – non-bank lenders such as Pepper Money and Latitude Financial are trading at depressed prices, and Brookfield’s price ambitions are understood to be higher than what many market experts believe equity investors would be willing to pay.
Brookfield received a recent windfall with the sale of its retirement living business Aveo to Scape and NPS for $3.85bn and could be looking to repeat that success with La Trobe.
Earlier, its advisers had been scanning the market for prospective buyers, including courting Japanese groups, which had been approached in the past about interest in the business when it was up for sale by Blackstone.
Morgan Stanley and UBS are working on the sale of the business.
La Trobe Financial manages $20bn on behalf of mainly older high-net-worth investors. Real estate private credit is a key focus.
Brookfield bought La Trobe from Blackstone for $1.7bn in 2022.
La Trobe hopes to increase its assets under management by $50bn in five years on the back of Australia’s ageing population and growth in superannuation assets through mandatory contributions. It promotes itself as a category leader in real estate private credit.
Brookfield sources suggest the business has increased assets under management at about 28 per cent on a compound annual growth rate.
While some consider La Trobe Financial to be a non-bank lender, it describes itself as an alternative asset manager. Unlike traditional non-bank lenders, more than 65 per cent of the business’s assets are funded through its asset management arm, which earns a fixed management fee.
The firm compares itself to companies like Qualitas, MA Financial and Pinnacle.
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