Australia's ASX may join bid for PEP’s Link - report
Australia's bourse operator ASX may join the auction for Link Market services, the share registry owned by Pacific Equity Partners (PEP), in a deal that could be worth as much as $1.36 billion. If the transaction goes through, it would be Asia’s biggest private equity exit of the year so far.
PEP has reportedly begun the auction process for the asset, hiring Goldman Sachs to advise on the sale, with Bain Capital, The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, KKR and Hellman & Friedman among those to have expressed interest in buying it.
PEP bought Link from ASX seven years ago and has made around 20 acquisitions, including buying the US business American Stock Transfer & Trust. The company manages in excess of 10 million accounts in Australasia.
Link Group's latest annual EBITDA is estimated at $120-130 million and it comprises two assets: Link Market Services, one of the leading share registry companies in Australia, and AAS, which provides administration services to superannuation funds. PEP acquired Link Market Services - then known as ASX Perpetual Registrars - from the Australian Securities Exchange and Perpetual Trustees Australia in 2005. AAS was bought from Telstra Corp. one year later.
PEP plans to retain a small minority stake in the company after the sale, sources said previously. The private equity firm had looked at various exit options including an IPO, but has dropped the plan due to weak markets.
ASX said it signed a confidentiality agreement to receive information on Link "ahead of a formal sale process", Reuters reported.
At the end of April, PEP completed the buyout of Australian cleaning and catering contractor Spotless Group for A$720 million ($697 million).
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