Frantic efforts by all manner of investment banks to stake their claim on the Perth market is prompting movement across the sector – with the latest big local name to move being Adrian Arundell who will join Azure Capital from KPMG.
Mr Arundell’s move is significant as he boosts the unlisted private company presence of Azure, one of the most successful local firms, as well as removing a potential recruit from various global banks which are understood to be eyeing a permanent presence in Western Australia.
Azure, headed by highly regarded investment banker Geoff Rasmussen, has also had to deal with the exit of one of its founders and dealmakers Mark Barnaba, who stepped down as an executive last year and has steadily sold down his equity in recent months.
A number of big investment banks have been circling the Perth market seeking senior local players to head up their WA presence, with the prospect of going native increasingly favoured over the fly-in, fly-out model due to the rising regularity of work and importance of local contacts.
A recent example of such recruiting was that of Karl Paganin who has established the Perth office of Canadian investment bank Canada's GMP Securities after falling out with broking and capital markets firm Euroz last year.
Late last year, UBS sought a hybrid of this model, repatriating former Western Australian Tim Day while at the same time appointing long established professional independent director Neil Hamilton to the role of WA chairman. That followed an 18-month effort by Richard Saywell to establish a permanent beachhead in WA after his previous fly-in, fly-out work.
Picking a key player is not just for those who want to start in WA, there are also those like top-tier players Macquarie and Azure looking to build their presence.
Macquarie’s move to poach Michael Ashforth from boutique rival Gresham in early 2010 appears to have paid dividends and, after being a perennial bridesmaid, has put the national investment bank at the top of the local sector, according to WA Business News annual survey of mergers and acquisitions.
Euroz has also been active. It appointed Mr Paganin’s former colleague Doug Young to its board and brought on two PwC executives Brian Beresford and Maurice Argento as directors of its corporate finance subsidiary Euroz Securities. Mr Beresford had joined PwC with the acquisition of management consulting firm GEM and Mr Argento arrived at the accounting firm when it bought corporate adviser Mainsheet Consulting.
Mr Arundel has been with KPMG for 17 years, but much of that time was spent overseas or interstate. He returned to Perth in 2008, a year after becoming a partner of the firm’s Sydney mergers and acquisition division, and quickly built a reputation in the private company space, particularly in the industrial sector which is not Azure’s forte.
Some notable recent transactions linked to him were the $80 million sale of Westnet to iiNet and the $90 million sale of HBF’s general insurance business to CGU.
Mr Arundell is expected to work with KPMG for several months, completing a number of transactions.