Athene Holding Ltd. and its biggest investor are investing in Australia's retirement services industry.
Athene and the investment company, Apollo Global Management Inc., say they have agreed to pay $540 million for a 15% stake in Challenger Ltd., a firm that sells annuities and investment management services in Australia.
Challenger is a Sydney-based company that was founded in 1985. It now has the equivalent of about $15 billion in life investment assets, in U.S. dollars, about $78 billion in total assets under management.
Athene — a Hamilton, Bermuda-based annuity issuer that ended the first quarter with about $206 billion in total assets — and Apollo started out with a 3% stake in Challenger.
Completing the purchase of the 15% stake would give Athene and Apollo an 18% stake in Challenger, Athene said Tuesday.
The deal is subject to approval by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
Athene and Apollo
Apollo now has a 45% stake in Athene. The two firms announced in March that Apollo is trying to merge with Athene through a stock swap that would leave Apollo shareholders with a 76% stake in the combined company.
