The initial attempt to launch the country’s first new full-service home-grown investment bank in decades was a fizzer.
“It was a sordid start,” says one rival banker now, while others recall frantic phone calls with employees as the new trophy employer evaporated. Grounds had resigned from UBS in May 2019, and stayed until the year-end, as the summer of bushfires raged. He’d been advised by business heavyweights that a year away from banking before starting anything else was the best course, whether or not there was any real threat of legal action from UBS. In fact, it was two years until he formally joined Barrenjoey in May 2021.
Fowler had worked closely with Benari – who had been central in setting up another investment bank, Zurich Capital Markets – for years, when UBS acted as Challenger’s banker. Fowler and Benari had been chatting informally for months about the new venture. Barrenjoey was up and running by September 2020, when capital flowed into the business in the form of Magellan’s cash and shares, which were quickly sold. By May, the group had booked revenue for its first corporate finance deal in the form of the $900 million merger of Aussie Home Loans and Lendi and its first equities trade – buying shares in Qantas. They were away.Aggressively, according to some, who point to how expertly Barrenjoey has broken into other banks’ longstanding relationships.
Another notable deal was advising Seven on its takeover over of Boral . It was the first time Barrenjoey had the chance to flex the Barclays balance sheet, with the UK bank financing the $8 billion bid. Performance helps too. Because for or all the speculation about how Barrenjoey would kill UBS by hollowing out its key deal makers, the local offices of the Swiss bank have done well, helped by its pragmatic approach to working alongside Barrenjoey and keeping clients on-side.
So they’ve got the talent and the momentum. They’ve sunk serious money into most of the upfront costs. Some 300 staff are on the books, of which 90 are in corporate finance, which means both firepower and a large, ongoing cost base.