The sovereign wealth fund, via a strategic partnership with Townsend, has formalised an investment in Pinnacle affiliate, Metrics Credit Holdings, Pinnacle said in an ASX listing on Thursday.
As part of the deal, NPS and Townsend will invest $50 million to acquire a 4.17 per cent stake in Metrics, with the funds set to support the firm's growth plans, including potential acquisitions and new investment strategies.
As part of the strategic investment, NPS and Townsend will also invest into Metrics real estate focused investment strategies.
NPS is the third largest pension fund in the world by total assets, managing over US$800 billion as of December 2024 and Townsend is a provider of global investment management and advisory services exclusively focused on real estate and real assets, with US$237.9 billion in advised assets and US$20.9 billion in assets under management as of March 2024.
"We are pleased to partner with both NPS and Townsend. As one of the world’s largest pension funds, NPS, along with Townsend, a leading global real asset investment platform, will assist our future growth plans, both domestically and internationally ‒ particularly in our real estate strategies, an area where Townsend brings considerable expertise," said Metrics managing partner, Andrew Lockhart.
Also commenting on the deal, Townsend CEO and chairman Anthony Frammartino said the firm's investment in Metrics reflects its confidence in the Australian private credit platform’s growth potential.
"Metrics is a well-established and leading private credit platform in Australia, which is an attractive and diverse market we have been actively focused on. Our decision to invest reflects our confidence in Metrics’ ability to continue to grow its platform and deliver opportunities that will drive long-term value for our investors," Frammartino said.
InvestorDaily understands that after the deal, ownership of Metrics Credit Holdings will be structured as follows: 62.29 per cent held equally by Metrics Managing Partners (Andrew Lockhart, Justin Hynes, Graham McNamara, and Andrew Tremain), 33.54 per cent owned by Pinnacle, and 4.17 per cent held by the NPS-Townsend partnership.
The transaction is a primary investment, and no shares will be sold by any of the existing shareholders.
