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The story
Hill Samuel Australia
Macquarie was founded on 10 December 1969 as Hill Samuel Australia Limited (HSA), a subsidiary of the UK's Hill Samuel & Co. Limited.
The group's logo is a stylised version of the holey dollar, Australia's first coinage, which was designed by Governor Macquarie.
Australian businessman Stan Owens compiled a proposal for Hill Samuel & Co. to establish an Australian subsidiary. After presenting his report in London, Owens was offered the role of implementing it. He became executive chairman of Hill Samuel Australia and founded the company from offices at Gold Fields House in Sydney's Circular Quay. The company's first three employees were Stan Owens, Blair Hesketh and Geoff Hobson. Later Chris Castleman (on loan from the British parent) and Bill Clarke joined. David Clarke and Mark Johnson were introduced to HSA and became joint managing directors in 1971. Despite being given a four-year allowance by the British parent to turn a profit, HSA was profitable by the end of its first twelve months of trading.
In 1971, HSA secured Australia's biggest mandate at the time, a US$60 million financing for corrugated iron manufacturer John Lysaght Australia. HSA expanded its presence in the Australian market, opening a Melbourne office in 1972, and a Brisbane office in 1975.
Macquarie Bank
The 1980s were marked by significant financial market deregulation in Australia, including the floating of the Australian dollar and the removal of restrictions on foreign banks. To capitalise on the opportunities offered by deregulation, HSA submitted a proposal for the formation of a new substantially Australian owned and controlled bank to be called Macquarie Bank Limited. Authority for HSA to become Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL) was received from the Paul Keating, then Federal Treasurer, on 28 February 1985, making it only the second private trading bank to be established in Australia in modern times.
The bank continued to grow its activities in the 1980s. It became Australia's leading bullion trader, initiated 24-hour foreign exchange trading, commenced stockbroking and corporate leasing activities, opened offices in London and Munich, expanded into funds management by establishing Australia's first cash management account and formed a new structured finance business which would grow to become one of the largest in the world. It also implemented the risk management framework which is credited for the organisation's long history of unbroken profitability. The framework ensured Macquarie was not materially exposed to the October 1987 global share market crash.
In other initiatives, Macquarie established its philanthropic arm, the Macquarie Group Foundation, which has since contributed more than $A330 million to community organisations around the world, and established what has become one of Australia's largest corporate art collections, the Macquarie Group Collection.
On 29 July 1996, Macquarie Bank Limited listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. By 30 October 1996, Macquarie had entered the ASX All Ordinaries Index, with a market capitalisation of approximately A$1.3 billion and would grow to more than $35 billion in 2018 to become one of Australia's largest listed companies.
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Macquarie continued its overseas expansion during the early 1990s, opening offices in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing, while extending its Australian operations to Perth and the Gold Coast. Acquisitions during the decade included Boston Australia Limited, Security Pacific Australia and the investment banking arm of Bankers Trust Australia.
In 1994, Macquarie began its infrastructure investment business with the underwriting and placement of publicly listed equity for the Hills Motorway in Sydney. It has continued to grow these activities to become the world's leading infrastructure manager. During the decade, Macquarie also launched its private banking and residential mortgages businesses and established a number of real estate and investment trusts.
Macquarie continued to expand its Asia operations in the early 2000s with the opening of offices in Seoul and Tokyo in 2000, and through the acquisition of ING Group's Asian cash equities business in March 2004.
The decade was also marked by the global expansion of Macquarie's infrastructure business, with infrastructure investment funds established in Korea, China, Europe, Russia, India and the Middle East. On 16 December 2004, Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation began trading as Macquarie Infrastructure Company Trust on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:MIC).
Macquarie made a number of significant acquisitions, particularly in the US, in the later part of the 2000s. These included US energy marketing and trading company Cook Inlet Energy Supply, establishing Macquarie's physical natural gas trading business in the US, and Constellation Energy's Houston-based downstream natural gas trading operations. As at 2018, Macquarie Group is the second largest physical gas trader in North America.
Other acquisitions included UK gas supply company Corona Energy in August 2006 and, in 2009, independent energy advisory firm Tristone Global Capital Inc; specialist investment bank Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller; Canadian wealth management business Blackmont Capital Inc; the wholesale electricity trading business of US firm Integrys Energy; US-based fixed income fund manager Allegiance Investment Management; the equity derivatives and structured products business of German private bank Sal. Oppenheim; and Condor Ferries service between the UK, Channel Islands and France.
In 2005, Macquarie announced an unsolicited takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange valuing the company at £1.5 billion, a bid rejected by LSE management.
Macquarie Group
In July 2006, Macquarie announced its intention to restructure the Macquarie Group into a non-operating holding company (NOHC) owning separate banking and non-banking groups so as to support continued growth across the Group's businesses, particularly internationally, whilst meeting the requirements of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). Establishment of Macquarie Group Limited as the NOHC was approved by the Federal Court in October 2007.
Also that year, Macquarie, via a deal in which it acquired Thames Water, a private utility company responsible for public water supply and waste water treatment in the London region of the UK, was found to have transferred to Thames Water £2bn of debt before selling its stake in the company. These disclosures followed scrutiny of the possible financial causes of Thames Water's extensive pollution of the River Thames, and other rivers, with untreated sewage between 2012 and 2014, for which Thames Water was fined a record £20m. In response to criticism, Macquarie noted that during its tenure Thames Water invested more than £11 billion, or around £1 billion per year, more than twice that invested during the five-year period before privatisation in 1989. The Lee Tunnel was commissioned in January 2010 and opened by Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London, in January 2016. The capital investment undertaken to London's water supply was the first major investment since the Victorian era. Debts in Thames Water had gone from £3.2bn to £10.5bn by the time Macquarie had sold its stake, whilst paying out £2.8bn in dividends to shareholders during their time in control.
While Macquarie, once called a "vampire kangaroo" by the UK press, pulled out of Thames Water, in August 2021, it bought a majority stake in Southern Water. It invested £1.6 billion ($3.1 billion) in what has been described as the UK's second most fragile water business, which, in 2024, risked being hit by the collapse of the now heavily financially troubled Thames Water.
In 2010, Macquarie completed its then largest acquisition with the purchase of Delaware Investments, a US-based diversified asset management firm, from Lincoln Financial Group. As a result of the acquisition, Macquarie became one of the world's largest 50 asset managers. The same year, the company, through its subsidiary Macquarie Equipment Rentals, was criticised by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission for suing 300 small businesses caught up in misleading telephony bundling deals.
In March 2012, Macquarie acquired the buildings located at 48–50 Martin Place and 9–19 Elizabeth Street from the Commonwealth Bank in preparation of their lease at current No. 1 Martin Place offices expiring in 2024.
In March 2014, the Private Equity Funds Management division — Macquarie Investment Management Private Markets (MIMPM) — was sold off to the former fund managers becoming ROC Equity Partners. In October 2014, Macquarie joins the Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF), formed as part of an initiative by the World Bank Group conceived under Australia's G20 2014 presidency, as an advisory partner to share market insight, advice and expertise with the GIF and its government partners.
In March 2015, Macquarie announced the acquisition of a US$4 billion aircraft operating lease portfolio from AWAS Aviation Capital, bringing Macquarie's portfolio up to more than 220 aeroplanes. In October Macquarie entered into an agreement to acquire the A$8.2 billion Esanda dealer finance portfolio from the ANZ Bank.
In June 2017, Macquarie's Commodities and Global Markets business completed its acquisition of Cargill's petroleum business as well as its North America power and gas business. The transaction expanded Macquarie's global financial and physical oil business footprint to include Geneva and Minneapolis.
In August 2017, a Macquarie-led consortium acquired the UK Green Investment Bank plc from the UK government as the result of the 'Future of the Green Investment Bank inquiry' that concluded that it was by original design to operate as an investment bank and in providing finance on fully commercial terms to achieve both green impact and strong profits the government should move GIB into private ownership so it can carry on doing what it does best – but funded by the private sector, rather than using public funds and free to borrow from the capital markets as necessary without this affecting public sector debt. Macquarie then rebranded it as a subsidiary called the Green Investment Group (GIG).
Recent history
In 2018, Shemara Wikramanayake succeeded Nicholas Moore as CEO.
In the financial year ending 31 March 2021, Macquarie reported net profit of A$3.015 billion and a final dividend per ordinary share of A$4.70 per share.
In September 2021, Cincinnati Bell, which also owns Hawaiian Tel since their July 2018 merger, was fully acquired by Macquaire Infrastructure Partners V.
In 2021, the company announced the purchase of Kansas City-based asset management company Waddell & Reed for A$2.3 billion.
Also in 2021, Macquarie entered into a binding agreement to acquire AMP Capital's Global Equity and Fixed Income (GEFI) business in Australia for A$185 million. This resulted in the A$47 billion transfer of assets to Macquaire Asset Management upon completion on 28 March 2022.
In March 2022, Macquarie Asset Management completed its acquisition of Central Park Group, an independent investment advisory company specialising in alternative investment strategies for high-net-worth investors.
In November 2023, Macquarie Capital Principal Finance announced the acquisition of energy testing and inspection services provider – Camin Cargo for an undisclosed amount.
In July 2024, the company took full ownership of National Gas in the UK, after acquiring the final 20% of the company from National Grid plc.
In April 2025, Macquarie agreed to sell its USA and European public asset management businesses – Macquarie Management Holdings, Inc, Macquarie Investment Management Holdings (Luxembourg) S.à r.l. and Macquarie Investment Management Holdings (Austria) GmbH, to Nomura in a A$$2.8 billion all-cash deal. The transaction, expected to close by the end of 2025, encompasses approximately A$$285 billion in assets across equities, fixed income and multi-asset strategies.
In February 2026, Macquarie AirFinance (MAF) was sold to Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) in a sale valued at US$7 billion.
From Wikipedia’s article on Macquarie Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6