Fast growing capital markets group BlueMount Capital has welcomed Melbourne-based corporate advisory and investment banking firm Kennedy Needham to the BlueMount Capital Group, establishing a presence in Melbourne to complement its Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Shanghai offices. As part of the merger, Kennedy Needham will rebrand as BlueMount Capital.
The Chairman of BlueMount Capital Dr Saliba Sassine said: “On behalf of the whole BlueMount Group, I take this opportunity to welcome Kennedy Needham into our Group and we look forward to driving our business nationally and internationally with the Melbourne office.”
Brent Needham, the executive Chairman of Kennedy Needham said “BlueMount Capital’s new combined offering will provide our clients with a stronger national presence and a global reach which Kennedy Needham could not go past.”
Co-Founder of BlueMount Capital, Mr Barry Palte, said the firm was attracted to Kennedy Needham because of its respected team of professionals, established relationships, 30 year successful transaction history and Melbourne base. Furthermore, the expanded network creates a major new player which is unique within Australia.
BlueMount Capital is the exclusive Australian member firm of the International Association of Investment Bankers (IAIB www.iaib.org), an international affiliation of investment banks.
Barry Palte, who is also global co-Chairman of IAIB, said: “The combined Group will be able to draw on a truly national and international network to deliver globally relevant solutions to its clients. With 10 IAIB member firms in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and current new member discussions in China, Japan, Korea and Brazil, our exclusive IAIB membership enables BlueMount Capital as a mid-sized national firm to provide agility and capability while offering genuine global reach and service to our clients.
“Melbourne plays an increasingly important role in a number of cross-border transactions we are working on and we needed the right partner to strengthen our leading market position. With this merger, BlueMount Capital will be able to offer Victorian businesses and investors more services, a stronger national presence, a truly global network and the rich experience of more than 40 experienced professionals operating in both Australia and China.”
BlueMount Capital was established in 2010 with Australian offices in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. The Group has recently advised on transactions worth more than $1 billion. This includes China Dairy Corporation’s $300 million market capitalisation IPO; the sale of PinkBerry, one of the leading frozen yoghurt store chains in the world, together with a US based IAIB member; and the $69 million market capitalisation IPO of Boyuan, the first Chinese property developer to list on the Australian Stock Exchange. BlueMount Capital also advised one of China’s largest groups on its bids for State Super Financial Services and Greenstone Group, both of which had enterprise values in excess of $1billion.
Kennedy Needham is currently undertaking an equity raising of up to $200 million for Dairy Farm Investments. The firm recently acted as lead arranger in the corporate sale of Australian Wholefoods to Patties Foods/Pacific Equity Partners as well as the $35 million corporate sale of Popina Foods to ASX listed Freedom Foods Group.
