After more than a year of talks, Orchard Street Investment Management this week completed the sale of a majority stake to National Australia Bank.
The seven partners in the 10-year-old firm offloaded “more than 70% but less than 75%” to the Australian bank’s asset management division. No details of the terms, such as price or tie-in period, were disclosed.
Chairman Chris Bartram said that it wasn’t the first approach the firm had had since it was set up in 2004, and that they had “become honed at politely looking at offers…but nothing had looked quite right”.
The deal sees the London-headquartered boutique, which now has circa £4bn of assets under management, become NAB’s exclusive UK partner.
Bartram said that NAB had “signed up for our business plan, which is to continue disciplined growth” at the specialist segregated fund manager. There are no plans for NAB to co-invest or launch new products with its new UK partner.
Orchard Street’s management remains unchanged, with the existing partnership comprising Bartram, Philip Gadsden, David Lee, Gary Felce, John Humberstone, Phillip Rodger and Barney Rowe continuing to manage client relationships.
