Magellan easily wins support for Barrenjoey merger in move to create a financial powerhouse
The strong vote in favour did not stop shareholders from asking pointed questions about the deal, the Lowy family’s involvement and poor disclosure around Barrenjoey’s finances.
Magellan Financial Group shareholder meetings are normally dominated by silver-haired retirees. That wasn’t the case on Friday, with the conference room at its headquarters inside 25 Martin Place packed with professionals in suits for an extraordinary general meeting to approve its merger with investment bank Barrenjoey.
Symbolic, perhaps, for a deal that critics have argued has been more about advisers — Barrenjoey is an investment bank, after all — than retail shareholders.
“There are plenty of advisers in the room, lawyers, auditors and accountants, which reflects the amount of work that went into the deal and how seriously we took it,” Magellan chief executive Sophia Rahmani told Capital Brief on the sidelines of the event. “We are pleased to have got the shareholder support today”.
The merger could potentially turn Magellan into a financial powerhouse with some market participants describing it as the next junior Macquarie.
