Barings will acquire Gryphon Capital Partners, a Brisbane, Australia-based structured finance boutique with A$2.6 billion ($1.7 billion) in assets under management, giving the Charlotte, N.C.-based asset manager's more than $8 billion structured finance business its first foothold in Asia-Pacific.
Barings will acquire 100% of Gryphon, the parent company of wholly-owned Gryphon Capital Investments, according to a Wednesday news release. GCI, in turn, is manager of Gryphon Capital Income Trust, an investment trust with A$466 million in structured finance assets that was listed on Australian stock exchange in May 2018.
A Barings spokeswoman said financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close on March 31, aren't being disclosed.
William Awad, Barings' head of global structured finance, said in an interview that over the coming year, Gryphon's business will be fully integrated into Barings' structured finance business, which has grown to $8.2 billion from roughly $1 billion in 2018 when Mr. Awad set up a formal structure for the business.
Mr. Awad said the acquisition of Gryphon will give Barings' structured finance business it's first toehold in Australia and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Gryphon's fast-growing listed investment trust — which will continue to be managed by GCI portfolio managers Steven Fleming and Ashley Burtenshaw — should prove to be the "tip of the spear" for Barings' broader entry into the Australian wealth market, he said.
