'If there was one deal I could do, this is it': Grant Hackett on GDG's $320m Evidentia deal
The Olympic champion made it clear that his competitive spirit endures as he talked up the benefits of his latest strategic move to investors.
The competitive spirit that drove Grant Hackett to win several Olympic gold medals still endures. That much was clear from the Generation Development Group CEO's call with investors on Tuesday to discuss the investment firm's $320 million acquisition of industry peer Evidentia Group, where the term Hackett kept returning to was "winning".
“It's a lot of fun being a part of a winning team. I've been on [the] winning and losing team. I know which one I prefer to be on, and GDG is certainly a winning team at the moment,” Hackett said, in his first public comments to investors about the transaction.
The deal will see GDG become the largest managed account player on the market with around $25 billion in funds under management (FUM). It was not borne out of a competitive process but instead from a long-term relationship.
“The deal came about not because people wanted to get out of the business, or any of the team did, or, you know, to get a big price. It's because they saw an opportunity to grow and do new things and take more opportunities that they currently didn't have through the scale of bringing both of those businesses together,” Hackett said.
