Jarden opens credit lines and signals interest in buying Kiwi Wealth

Jarden chief executive James Lee. Photo / Alex Burton

Jarden is understood to have approached Kiwibank and its advisers Goldman Sachs about a possible bid for Kiwi Wealth.

The investment bank and wealth manager has told its roughly 600 staff this morning that it is on the lookout for acquisitions and has an open, undrawn $60 million credit line from "private family offices connected to the firm" to potentially fund deals.

Goldman Sachs has been taking soundings from both sides of the Tasman about Kiwi Wealth, which has about $9 billion of assets under management.

It is part of Kiwi Group Holdings, which also owns Kiwibank. Kiwi Group is ultimately owned by various arms of the government through NZ Post, ACC and the Super Fund.

Kiwi Group has recently sold its insurance business and online retail brokerage Hatch. The Herald revealed that Goldman Sachs is conducting a wider review of Kiwi Group's ownership.

Market speculation suggests Kiwi Wealth will sell for more than $200m.

A bid from Jarden - assuming it is competitive on financial terms - may be attractive for Goldman Sachs to take to Kiwi Group's owners. New Zealand-owned, Jarden has no KiwiSaver business, meaning it would likely face few issues from regulators.

Founded by former All Black Ron Jarden in 1961, the firm was later renamed First NZ Capital but was then renamed back to Jarden in 2019.

In late 2021, chief executive James Lee confirmed to the Herald that it may look at taking on funding if it was to buy new businesses. He appeared to express interest in Kiwi Wealth.

"Kiwi Wealth is an excellent asset, and while I can't comment on any process, we believe strongly that financial services can have a wider purpose and want to see strong Australasian businesses remain in private hands to allow them to focus on delivering great client outcomes," Lee said.

Lee said Jarden "posted a record year in 2021, achieving a growth rate of 40 per cent".

While he said all divisions of the business were "delivering profitable outcomes" the statement did not give details but confirmed funding.

"Jarden has recently received an external commitment for more than NZ$60m in new funding from private family offices connected to the firm, located in Australia and New Zealand. The additional capital will enable Jarden to invest in new business and growth opportunities across both regions."

Jarden received an ASX licence in April 2021, later entering into a strategic alliance with Nomura. Around a quarter of its staff are based in Australia and Lee said the company is opening offices in Melbourne and Perth this year, joining its existing offices in Sydney and Brisbane.

"We continue to see significant growth opportunities across public and private assets in New Zealand and Australia, and this investment will allow us to grow these areas of our business considerably. We are excited about what can be achieved in the next five years by continuing to focus our efforts on solving our clients' most complex problems."