Macquarie Group

1969 - 1979

Macquarie was founded on 10 December 1969 as Hill Samuel Australia Limited, a subsidiary of the UK's Hill Samuel & Co. Limited.

Hill Samuel & Co. initially sought the advice of Sir John Marks, of Development Finance Corporation (DFC), regarding the establishment of an Australian subsidiary, however he suggested that Stan Owens instead be the one to compile a proposal for consideration. After presenting his report in London, Mr Owens was offered the role of implementing it by Hill Samuel's Chairman, Kenneth Keith, Baron Keith of Castleacre. Mr Owens became Executive Chairman of Hill Samuel Australia (HSA) and founded the company in 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 (both formerly of Darling & Co) were introduced to HSA and became joint Managing Directors. 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 $US60 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. In 1979, HSA gained floor member status at the Sydney Futures Exchange.

1980 - 1989

In 1980 HSA began its expansion into funds management by establishing Australia’s first cash management account. In 1981, in response to changes evolving from the deregulation of financial markets, HSA commenced work on a proposal to become a trading bank. Authority for HSA to become Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL) was received from the Federal Treasurer on 28 February 1985, making it only the second private trading bank to be established in Australia in modern times. In the same year, Macquarie established its philanthropic arm, the Macquarie Group Foundation. In 1987, Macquarie established what has become one of Australia’s largest corporate art collections, the Macquarie Group Collection.

1990 - 1999

Macquarie continued its overseas expansion during the early 1990s, opening offices in London, Munich, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing. In 1994 Macquarie began its infrastructure investment business with the underwriting and placement of publicly listed equity for the Hills Motorway in Sydney. On 29 July 1996, Macquarie Bank Limited listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:MQG). By 30 October 1996 Macquarie had entered the ASX All Ordinaries Index, with a market capitalisation of approximately $A1.3 billion. In June 1999, Macquarie acquired the investment banking arm of Bankers Trust Australia.

2000 - 2009

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 for an undisclosed amount in March 2004. On December 16, 2004, Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation began trading as Macquarie Infrastructure Company Trust on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:MIC).

In 2005 Macquarie announced a hostile takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange valuing the company at £1.5 billion, a bid rejected by LSE management as "derisory". In October, Macquarie signalled its intention to acquire 100 per cent of U.S. energy marketing and trading company Cook Inlet Energy Supply, enabling Macquarie’s first physical natural gas trade in the US.

Macquarie acquired UK gas supply company Corona Energy in August 2006. In December 2006, Airline Partners Australia, a Macquarie-led consortium, launched an unsuccessful take over offer for Qantas.

In 2007, MBL securityholders and the Federal Court approved the restructure of the Macquarie group into a non-operating holding company (NOHC) structure. Macquarie Group is regulated by APRA, the Australian banking regulator, as the owner of Macquarie Bank Limited, an authorised deposit taker.

On February 4, 2009, Macquarie announced its acquisition of Constellation Energy’s Houston-based downstream natural gas trading operations, making Macquarie Group the fourth largest physical gas trader in North America. In the same year Macquarie acquired independent energy advisory firm Tristone Global Capital Inc; specialist investment bank Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Walker; 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.

2010 - 2016

In 2010 Macquarie Group completed its largest foreign acquisition with the purchase of Delaware Investments, a leading US-based diversified asset management firm, from Lincoln Financial Group.

In January 2015, Macquarie Group acquired a stake in Baltic 2 offshore wind park from EnBW for a fee totalling €720 million, due for completion in summer 2016 and subject to antitrust approval. In March 2015 Macquarie announced the acquisition of a $US4 billion aircraft operating lease portfolio from AWAS Aviation Capital Limited. Later in May that year, the group jointly acquired Australia's largest owner of mobile phone towers Crown Castle Australia Holdings for an undisclosed price, rumoured to be in the region of $A1.62 billion, from its ultimate owner, Crown Castle International Corp. In October Macquarie entered into an agreement to acquire the $A8.2 billion Esanda dealer finance portfolio from ANZ Banking Group.

Current operations

Macquarie employs 14,372 staff in 27 countries around the world.

Macquarie’s business activities are organised into five principle operating groups:

In addition to the principle operating groups, Macquarie has a network of support groups including; Corporate Operations Group, Financial Management Group, Legal and Governance Group and Risk Management Group.

Macquarie’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer is Nicholas Moore, who replaced Allan Moss in May 2008.

Board of Directors

Macquarie Group's current Board of Directors includes:

Business

Public service

Macquarie Bank maintains political connections through the appointment of former politicians and senior political staffers to senior positions.

Logo

Macquarie Group’s logo is a stylised representation of the ‘Holey Dollar’, Australia first official currency.

In 1813 Governor Lachlan Macquarie overcame an acute currency shortage in the colony of New South Wales by importing 40,000 Spanish silver dollars and punching a hole through the centre of them to create two unique coins, the ‘Holey Dollar’ and the ‘Dump’. The introduction of the currency stimulated the economy while retaining its intrinsic value, with the two new coins – the 'Holey Dollar' and the 'Dump' – worth 25 per cent more than the original.

According to Macquarie Group, the ‘Holey Dollar’ was Australia’s earliest example of ‘financial innovation’ and ‘embodies its pursuit of practical approaches with profitable outcomes’.

Criticism

The company's high margins, profits and the lucrative rewards for its executives and shareholders saw the Australian media label the bank "The Millionaire Factory" due to their notably strong performances. As of May 6, 2016, the group's chief executive Nicholas Moore became the nation's highest paid CEO of a listed company as they announced a net profit after tax for the year at A$2.06 billion.

Macquarie Group through its subsidiary Macquarie Equipment Rentals has allegedly been perpetrating a Telco finance scam. Macquarie Equipment Rentals has sued over 300 victims of the scam which involves bundling a finance equipment contract with a contract from a small telecommunications company, often obscuring that the finance contract exists.

The scam involves the telecommunications company promising free equipment such as Plasma TVs, while offering a lower cost phone deal that offsets the cost of the equipment. The victim is then tricked into signing two contracts with the true costs often hidden, whilst being verbally promised that they will be free. The telecommunications company is paid an upfront fee by the finance company, and sometime later disappears. The victim is then left with an inflated finance company lease that requires the victim to pay often tens of thousands of dollars for equipment that in reality costs a fraction of the price.

The company's high margins and profits, and the rewards for its executives and shareholders, saw the Australian media label the bank "The Millionaire Factory" up until its share price fell almost 85% in early 2009.