Westpac/BT exits Ascalon
Westpac has announced its exit from its incubator, Ascalon Capital Managers.
The big banking group has told the Australian Securities Exchange that it will cease to own Ascalon following an agreement with Generation Development Group under which Generation will invest in Ascalon and become its ultimate owner.
The ASX announcement said that following completion of the transaction, Ascalon would continue to hold minority equity interests in the investment management firms Morphic Asset Management and Deepwater Capital.
It said that other firms in which Ascalon currently holds an interest will not form part of the transaction.
The ASX announcement said that while Ascalon had a strong record as a leading incubator and partner of boutique fund managers in the Asia Pacific, BT Financial Group had decided it was no longer a core business and had decided to exit.
It said completion of the transaction was subject to the approval of the Securities and Future Commission of Hong Kong and was expected to occur in March, next year.
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