Cromwell Acquires Stake in Oyster Group

Cromwell Acquires Stake in Oyster Group

Australian property and funds management group, Cromwell Property Group, has acquired a 50% interest in New Zealand property and fund manager Oyster Group.

Oyster has in excess of $NZD650 million of property assets under management through a combination of private property syndicates and institutional property management mandates.

Chief Executive of Oyster, Mark Schiele, said the partnership with Cromwell will enable the company to acquire larger institutional grade assets over time and to build the scale of the business, as part of its long term strategy to significantly accelerate growth.

Cromwell will acquire a 50% stake in the business for an initial payment of $NZD5 million, with a further $NZD2.5 million being payable over the next two years, upon achieving targeted financial performance. Additionally outperformance payments are possible over the same period.

The remaining 50% will continue to be owned by Oyster Directors, including CEO Mark Schiele. As part of the transaction, Cromwell’s New Zealand based Director Michelle McKellar has been appointed Chair of the Oyster Group.

Cromwell CEO Paul Weightman said Oyster had many similarities to Cromwell and would provide a solid platform for the Group’s expansion in to New Zealand.

“Oyster is a full service property fund manager that has also successfully taken on the management of externally-owned institutional property portfolios,” Mr Weightman said. “The Oyster management team is very capable and experienced and is culturally and philosophically aligned to Cromwell with a strong track record of performance.”

Mr Weightman said the recent economic recovery in New Zealand reinforced Cromwell’s already optimistic view about the opportunity to grow its presence in the country.

“Recent economic data suggests New Zealand is entering a new period of strong, sustainable growth.

We believe we have the right partner, at the right time, to take advantage of these conditions and build a solid, profitable business.”

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