Metrics Credit Partners has reached an agreement to purchase the Australian corporate and acquisition finance loan portfolio of Investec Australia.
Investec Australia CEO and country head, Milton Samios, said: “We are pleased with this development as it will ensure local corporates continue to be served by a highly regarded local lender.
“It is a high-quality portfolio, which is a testament to the Investec approach to credit selection and risk management as well as to the Investec Corporate and Acquisition Finance Team (CAF), led by Simon Beissel, which has built this business over the past 10 years.”
The acquisition will cement Metrics Credit Partners as the country’s leading non-bank corporate lender, with a portfolio exceeding $6.5 billion.
Also read: Behind The Scenes With Metrics Credit Partners
Metrics’ managing partner, Andrew Lockhart, welcomed the acquisition, saying it would deliver enhanced investment opportunities for Metrics’ clients.
“This is a great outcome for investors because it will add to the diversity and liquidity across our funds and lead to an uplift in expected total returns. The credit quality of this portfolio is sound and provides a great opportunity to expand our relationship with Australian corporate borrowers.”
Metrics is one of Australia’s largest non-bank corporate lenders, and which has the backing of a number of large superannuation funds.
The portfolio comprises leveraged finance and fund finance loans to corporates and funds across business services, entertainment, retail, childcare, healthcare, mining services and financial services in Australia.
Investec’s Resource Finance and Project and Infrastructure Finance loan portfolios were not included in the sale process, which was run by the Investec Corporate Advisory team. This team is shortly to be spun out into a separate independent advisory boutique.
Johannesburg and London-listed Investec, which has been in Australia for more than 23 years, announced at the end of last year that it was exiting the local market as part of its parent Investec Bank plc move to simplifying its business structure and focusing on its principal market in the UK.
