MA Financial Group has announced the acquisition of Melbourne-based real estate investment manager IP Generation (IPG) for $90.4 million, significantly expanding its real estate footprint.
The transaction will predominantly be settled in MAF shares, with the business set to be integrated into MA Financial’s real estate asset management platform.
The acquisition will lift MA Financial’s real estate assets under management (AUM) to approximately $8 billion, and total group AUM to more than $12 billion.
This latest deal follows MA Financial’s recent move to scale its credit investment capabilities through a US$1.7 billion joint venture with Monroe Capital and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), which targets senior secured loans to US middle market firms and taps into a rapidly growing global private credit market.
Founded in 2018, IP Generation manages around $2 billion in retail shopping centre assets across 10 funds, including 14 shopping centres located in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia. The firm serves high-net-worth investors and has built a reputation for performance and capital raising.
“IP Generation has an impressive track-record in securing assets, raising capital and delivering strong returns to its investors,” said Julian Biggins (pictured left), joint CEO of MA Financial.
“Its complementary, high growth real estate funds management platform will give our real estate asset management business immediate additional scale, expanded and diversified distribution channels and an increased Melbourne presence and investor base.”
A total of 29 real estate investment professionals from IPG will join MA Financial, strengthening its platform across core, alternative and real estate credit strategies.
Upon completion, IPG Founder and CEO Chris Lock (pictured right) will become head of core real estate at MA Financial, responsible for the performance of the core real estate division. He will be supported by Ingrid van Dijken, IPG’s long-standing COO.
In addition, IPG chairman David Blight and director Greg Miles will join MA Financial’s real estate leadership team.
“IP Generation and MA Financial have a strong cultural fit and alignment,” said Lock.
“We have known the MA Financial team for many years and believe the scale of the combined business enables us to deliver even better opportunities and investment returns to all our clients in the future.”
The $90.4 million purchase price reflects a 7.9x multiple on FY24 normalised EBITDA. It includes:
The transaction is expected to be accretive to FY25 underlying earnings per share, on a full-year pro forma basis.
“This acquisition will mutually benefit our many investor clients, which aligns with our philosophy of achieving win-win outcomes for clients, shareholders, and staff,” Biggins said.
The integration will also deliver scale and synergy benefits, especially across shopping centre management via MA Financial’s owned platform RetPro.
“The transaction presents an opportunity to combine IP Generation’s track record and investor base with MA Financial’s balance sheet and capital-raising capabilities to fast-track growth,” Biggins said.
“Additionally, there is potential for earnings enhancement and platform synergies to be realised on the operating side, including within MA Financial’s shopping centre management business, RetPro.”
Post-acquisition, the combined real estate asset management platform will offer:
The transaction is expected to be completed in the early second half of 2025.
