Athene Holding Ltd. and Apollo Global Management have reached an agreement to purchase a 15% minority stake in Challenger Limited from an existing shareholder, marking their entry into the Australian retirement marketplace.
Once completed and when combined with other Challenger shares acquired by Athene and Apollo, the acquisition of the 15% share will result in a total expected minority economic interest of 18% for roughly AUD720 million (USD540 million).
Challenger is the leading platform in Australia for annuities and investment management, with AUD21 billion of life investment assets and a huge AUD104 billion of total assets under management, as at the end of March.
Athene, alongside its strategic partner Apollo, feel that Challenger is positioned well to continue serving Australia’s growing retirement market.
Athene Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Jim Belardi, commented: “Investing in Challenger represents an exciting opportunity for us to support a well-established platform within the Australian market, a geography we have been studying given the current economic conditions and compelling demographic fundamentals.
“In many ways, Challenger is the perfect partner for us – the company is led by an experienced management team, has a strong market position, attractive growth prospects, and shares our deep commitment to retirees. Together, we believe we can help Challenger continue to build long-term value, similar to what we’ve been able to achieve in building Athene’s business in the U.S. and supporting the growth of our sister company Athora in Europe, where we are also minority shareholders.”
Of the 15% interest Athene and Apollo have agreed to acquire, 3% is subject to customary Australian Prudential Regulation Authority approval.
The investment comes after Athene’s pending merger agreement with Apollo. The investment in Challenger is a natural extension of the company’s vision and signals the entry into the Australian market.
