Pyne Gould offloads bulk of Perpetual business to van Eyk

Pyne Gould offloads bulk of Perpetual business to van Eyk Research

By Paul McBeth

March 22 (BusinessDesk) - Pyne Gould Corp, the South Island asset management firm controlled by George Kerr, has sold the bulk of its Perpetual businesses to Australian research and management group van Eyk Research.

The Christchurch-based group has sold Perpetual Asset Management and Perpetual Portfolio Management, though hasn't included Perpetual Trust as previously indicated. The sale was flagged in January, and would see Pyne Gould merge the Perpetual units into van Eyk and then sell its 38.2 percent stake in van Eyk to interests led by London-based wealth management investor Andrew Barnes.

A further announcement relating to the sale of Perpetual Trust is expected to be made by the end of the month.

"The sale to van Eyk provides an ideal fit for Perpetual's asset management and advisory businesses," Kerr said in a statement. "These Perpetual companies will be in sound, experienced hands."

Van Eyk manages funds of $1.2 billion and provides research and data to some 8,000 financial planners, according to Pyne Gould's annual report. Pyne Gould bought the van Eyk stake in 2010 for A$1.6 million, and has provided it three loans since the acquisition, the latest being an A$7.2 million advance on July 25.

Pyne Gould plans to focus on its Torchlight group, which has specialised in squeezing value from distressed assets, and its assets in Australia and the UK, it said.

The shares were unchanged at 25 cents today, and have slipped 3.9 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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