Former Sistema owner Brendan Lindsay takes a stake in Pryde Capital

Former Sistema owner Brendan Lindsay. Photo / NZ Herald

Kiwi multi-millionaire Brendan Lindsay has taken a cornerstone stake in newly-formed Pryde Capital Advisors, a specialised debt advisory firm comprising the nucleus of ANZ's corporate finance team.

Lindsay sold Auckland-based plastic container manufacturer Sistema to America's Newell for $660 million in 2016 and has invested in several different ventures since then.

The newly-incorporated Pryde Capital, whose executive team comprises former ANZ staffers Andrew Pryde, Josh Powell and Matt Kendrick, aims to support New Zealand business through a specialist debt advisory offering.

Pryde was the former head of corporate finance in institutional banking at ANZ.

Powell was an associate director on the bank's corporate finance team and Kendrick was a manager.

"While we were at the bank we saw a gradual tightening of credit conditions in New Zealand," Pryde told the Herald.

"The largest banks in New Zealand were not necessarily pulling back from providing credit, but certainly were becoming more conscious of where they deployed capital and the return that they got on that capital, which made it harder for New Zealand's businesses to access credit," he said.

"We believed that we could better serve New Zealand businesses by partnering with them to assist in procurement of debt facilities from the outside to allow them to grow and prosper," Pryde said.

A number of new entrants had come to the capital markets - alternative lenders, non-bank lenders, family offices, high net worth individuals - all of which had shown an interest in supporting New Zealand businesses.

Very low interest rates had seen more private credit come into the funding mix.

"When we floated the idea to Brendan he liked the idea of a service that could help New Zealand businesses grow," Pryde said.

Pryde Capital's formation comes against a backdrop of increased complexity and regulation in New Zealand's debt capital markets.

New Zealand's traditional banks continue to simplify their business models to a more standardised and digitised offering, corporate New Zealand businesses are finding it harder to access credit to support and pursue their business ambitions, Pryde said.

Pryde said the firm would provide "non-conflicted" debt advice to New Zealand businesses.

Since Sistema's sale, Lindsay has become involved in 2020 Community Finance, an investment platform aimed at funding affordable homes for families.

Lindsay has also invested in NZX-listed Me Today, which in June bought King Honey for $36m.

In 2019, Lindsay's had build a substantial stake in NZX-listed tap maker Methven, before it was sold to Australia's based GWA for $118m.