Pepperstone’s Owen Kerr on CHAMP investment
LeapRate was first to break the story on Thursday of Australian retail forex broker Pepperstone securing a multi-million dollar investment, which was then copied on several other blogs. We’re now pleased to bring our readers another first, in the form of an exclusive interview on the investment with Pepperstone CEO Owen Kerr.
The investment in Melbourne-based Pepperstone was made by CHAMP Private Equity, one of Australia’s leading PE firms.
Before we get to Kerr’s remarks, we’d note that neither Pepperstone nor CHAMP have indicated the size of the investment, or the percentage of the company now owned by CHAMP. Australia press reports speculated that the deal was done in the $100-$200 million valuation range, and had actually mentioned rumors in recent weeks that Pepperstone was going to be sold to CHAMP.
Our sense, based on what was and was not said, is that this is a significant minority (i.e. non-controlling) investment being made by CHAMP, possibly with option rights to increase their stake to a majority (i.e. controlling) interest in the future.
In any event, both CHAMP and the existing ownership and management group seem intent on growing Pepperstone into a major player in the global FX scene.