VGI and Regal Funds merger now a done deal

A merger of two of the country's leading investment managers has today been completed, bringing together Regal Funds Management (RFM) and VGI Partners (ASX: VGI) under the same banner with close to $6 billion in funds under management.

Now called ‘Regal Partners Limited’, VGI will remain listed on the ASX with a new ticker RPL that represents the partnership with RFM.

As part of the deal, VGI shareholders saw their ownership of the merged company diluted, with 60 per cent of RPL owned by RFM shareholders, and only 40 per cent by existing owners.

The merger, which was passed after 99.98 per cent of votes were cast in favour of the deal, also brings two titans of the investment space together under one roof - VGI’s co-founder Robert Luciano and RFM CIO Philip King, who co-founded Regal with his brother Andrew in 2004.

Luciano - who co-founded VGI with Douglas Tynan who exited the board in 2020 - today announced he would be resigning as executive chairman of the company, but will remain involved as chief investment officer for the VGI Partners investment team within the broader group.

Leading RPL will be Regal’s CEO Brendan O’Connor, who will take up the mantle of CEO and managing director of the merged fund.

Dexus (ASX: DXS) CEO Darren Steinberg and Benjamin Pronk have also resigned as directors of VGI, while Michael Cole, Sarah Dullhunty and Ian Gibson have been appointed as new directors.

Cole has been appointed independent chair, Dullhunty as independent non-executive director, and Gibson as executive director.

When the deal was announced, VGI said the merged entity would be “leveraging complementary client profiles and relationships across the combined group, including existing long-term relationships with high net worth individuals and family offices within VGI and Regal, alongside a combined retail investor base of over 20,000 investors across VGI Partners Global Investments (ASX:VG1), VGI Partners Asian Investments (ASX:VG8) and the Regal Investment Fund (ASX:RF1)”.

At the same time, VGI CEO Jonathan Howie announced his resignation, expressing his “desire to pursue other opportunities”.

Completion of the deal comes after VGI announced its FY21 results in February, recording statutory net profit after tax of $42.7 million, and a final dividend of 6 cents per share paid in March to shareholders.

Shares in VGI are up 0.24 per cent to $4.10 per share at 12.16pm AEST.