The sale of state-owned investment business Kiwi Wealth is imminent.
Photo: 123RF
The final bidders for the state-owned manager, with about $9 billion in assets under management, have been Fisher Funds, Jarden Securities, and Booster, after a wide range of New Zealand and foreign asset managers showed initial interest.
It's understood that Fisher Funds, majority owned by the Toi Foundation, which also owns the New Plymouth based TSB Group, has the inside running, although Booster has emerged as a favourite New Zealand owner.
The sale price is rumoured to be close to $300m, although early estimates ranged as $400m.
Australian Pacific Equity Partners and the NZX's investment arm Smart shares were among the early contenders who had since dropped out.
Kiwi Wealth was put on the block at the beginning of the year, with Goldman Sachs appointed to review the options and assess the interest.
The fund manager was born out of Kiwibank's purchase of Gareth Morgan Investments business in 2012 for $50 million, and management of about $1.5bn in funds.
Kiwi Wealth is part of Kiwi Group Holdings along with Kiwibank, with the parent owned by NZ Post, the Super Fund and ACC.
ACC's reluctance to commit funds to the broader group, and any necessary injection of capital to fund expansion is believed to have prompted the Kiwi Wealth sale, as well as that of the online investment platform Hatch and Kiwi Insurance, which divested earlier this year.
Which ever of the bidders wins the prize will climb up the investment ranks, taking Fisher Funds to a $23bn business jostling with ASB as the second biggest Kiwisaver manager, while Booster would more than double their funds to about $16bn.
The sale is not without sensitivities, with a New Zealand buyer almost a compulsory, and Kiwi Wealth is one of six default KiwiSaver providers, but so is Booster, which may not sit well.
The sale will leave Kiwi Group Holdings, with just Kiwibank and mortgage broker NZ Home Loans.
The parent company's future ownership structure, and by default that of Kiwibank, is being reviewed by Goldman Sachs, the managers of the Kiwi Wealth sale.