CP Capital and Portunas Merge
June 10, 2009
Listed investment company Charter Pacific Corporation (Charter Pacific) today is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned corporate advisory subsidiary, Charter Pacific Capital Limited (CP Capital) has merged with Melbourne-based firm Portunas Corporate Advisory, the principals of which are Peter Bartels and John Clayton.
The new business will be owned 50/50 and will trade through a newly established entity Portunas Limited (Portunas) and will be located in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. The merger represents a significant strategic initiative by Charter Pacific to play a more predominant role in the corporate advisory space. Portunas is projected to be self funding and is expected to operate profitably within the first 12 months.
The business will be headed by Peter Bartels, Chief Executive Officer and John Clayton, Chief Operating Officer who bring over 20 years of operational experience in providing corporate advice to major Australian companies across the resources, industrial and technology sectors both in Australia and offshore.
Recent Portunas client work includes providing commercial and operational advice to major energy and resources producers and service providers in the development of ‘Bottleneck Infrastructure’ for the Australian mining and resources industry.
The merger of the two businesses consolidates two well positioned independent corporate advisory firms with established market positions and strong new business pipelines.
Charter Pacific Managing Director Kevin Dart said: “Over the past few years CP Capital has established a solid footing in the corporate advisory arena. Portunas Limited will be a specialised and boutique corporate advisory business catering predominantly for ASX listed companies in the resources, industrial and technology sectors that compliment Charter Pacific’s investment strategy.”
Portunas Limited CEO Peter Bartels said: “Portunas is a business designed to take advantage of the inevitable change in business focus resulting from current global financial market uncertainty. The shift from ‘pure financial engineering’ to one of greater emphasis on the strategic, commercial and operational aspects of deal making and project development is becoming more important to clients. The Portunas team combined with CP Capital can deliver the right mix of skills and experience in order to add significant value to future transactions and projects in this new market paradigm.”