Private investment group Sirona Capital has been split in two, with founding director Kelvin Flynn establishing a new business named Harvis with a focus on real estate, agriculture and infrastructure financing.
Private investment group Sirona Capital has been split in two, with founding director Kelvin Flynn establishing a new business named Harvis with a focus on real estate, agriculture and infrastructure financing.
West Perth-based Sirona will continue to be run by Matthew McNeilly, who teamed up with Mr Flynn to establish the private equity firm in 2010.
Sirona has retained control of 11 funds with $330 million of committed capital, while Harvis has $100 million of capital in one fund.
In both cases, the funds are sourced from global institutional investors, family offices and high net worth individuals.
Sirona will retain the group’s largest project – the $270 million Kings Square redevelopment in central Fremantle.
Mr McNeilly is also working with investment partner Chip Eng Seng to progress the approval and development of luxury apartment sites and is responsible for the Quest Hotel Fremantle, The Village shopping centre at Margaret River and the Adelaide Street Plaza shopping centre.
Harvis will focus on development of the Northern Gateway industrial parks at Bullsbrook and Muchea, in partnership with Goldman Sachs.
The split formally took effect on June 30 but has not previously been publicised.
It comes after Mr Flynn spent seven months as acting chief executive at Perth-based National Lifestyle Villages, having been appointed by global private equity firm and NLV funder Blackstone.
That culminated in the sale of NLV in June this year to an entity backed by Sydney investor Rob Nichols and Singapore investment fund GIC
In a similar vein to this role, Mr Flynn and his team at Harvis will continue to provide turnaround and restructuring advice in sectors where it can add value and deploy capital.
In a statement, Messrs Flynn and McNeilly said Sirona has had several distinct investment themes: Fremantle’s urban renewal, land bank investment, real estate development and lending and agriculture.
“These themes had operated successfully and relatively independently under the Sirona banner for some time, with both partners agreeing to formalise the new structure at the end of June,” they said.
“From the perspective of both Sirona and Harvis, it is business as usual for our investors, and for our other stakeholders.
“There will be no change for our staff.”
Messrs Flynn and McNeilly added they were up-beat about the direction Western Australia was taking, particularly in terms of improved sentiment in the mining and resources sector, which drives activity in other sectors.
“We both see exciting opportunities ahead, and we’ve been laying further foundations on behalf of our investors to be well-positioned to explore and deliver new projects,” they said.
