Navigator Global Investments (ASX:NGI) has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a diversified portfolio of net revenue-share interests in 17 alternative asset managers from New York-based Stable Asset Management for US$195 million. The transaction, financed through a fully underwritten A$145 million entitlement offer and approximately A$136 million in NGI scrip, is expected to close in the early second half of 2026. The deal establishes a long-term strategic partnership between the two firms and will see the acquired portfolio housed in a newly created vehicle called NGI Stable Growth. With the transaction valued at 7.6 times the portfolio’s calendar year 2025 distributions, Navigator expects the acquisition to be low double-digit earnings-per-share accretive in its first full year of ownership.
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Key Overview
- Deal Value: US$195 million (approximately A$270 million)
- Target: Portfolio of net revenue-share interests in 17 alternative asset managers
- Seller: Stable Asset Management LP
- Financing: A$145 million entitlement offer at A$2.40 per share + A$136 million in NGI scrip
- Portfolio Firm-Level AUM: US$15 billion as of March 2026
- Ownership-Adjusted AUM: Approximately US$1.8 billion
- CY2025 Distributions: US$27 million
- Deal Multiple: 7.6x CY2025 distributions
- Expected Close: Early second half of 2026
- Regulatory Requirement: Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval
- New Vehicle: NGI Stable Growth
- EPS Impact: Low double-digit accretion expected in first full year
A Transformative Acquisition in the GP Stakes Space
Navigator Global Investments, the ASX-listed alternative asset management company, has announced what may be its most significant strategic move yet. The firm has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a portfolio of net revenue-share interests from Stable Asset Management LP for a total consideration of US$195 million. The transaction involves minority stakes in 17 alternative asset managers spanning a range of strategies including long-short equities, quantitative trading, private credit, royalties, and relative value.
The deal underscores Navigator’s ambition to deepen its footprint in the fast-growing GP stakes segment of the alternative investments industry, a market that has seen deal volumes surge approximately 40% year-on-year in 2025 according to research by Campbell Lutyens. That report documented 164 private markets GP transactions in 2025, up from 117 in 2024, driven by the continued maturation of alternatives and the growing capital needs of fund managers.
Deal Structure and Financing
The transaction is being funded through a fully underwritten A$145 million entitlement offer priced at A$2.40 per share on a 1-for-8.13 basis, combined with approximately A$136 million in NGI scrip consideration. In Australian dollar terms, the deal’s total value amounts to roughly A$270 million.
A separate share placement of approximately 58.7 million shares will be made to Stable-related funds, granting them around 9.6% of the NGI share register upon completion. Following the transaction, Stable’s limited partners and Stable itself will become minority shareholders in NGI, subject to customary escrow arrangements. Notably, GP Strategic Capital, Navigator’s existing large shareholder, is not participating in the entitlement offer and will be diluted as a result.
The deal is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval and other standard closing conditions and is expected to close in the early second half of 2026. Seward & Kissel LLP served as legal counsel to Stable, while MinterEllison acted as legal counsel in Australia for Navigator.
What Navigator Is Buying
The portfolio being acquired consists of net revenue-share interests in 17 alternative asset managers that collectively oversee approximately US$15 billion in firm-level assets under management as of March 2026. On an ownership-adjusted basis, the portfolio represents about US$1.8 billion in assets under management, and the underlying managers carry an average performance fee rate of 17%.
The portfolio generated US$27 million in distributions during the 2025 calendar year, putting the acquisition multiple at 7.6 times those annual distributions. The strategies within the portfolio are diverse, covering long-short equity, private credit, quantitative strategies, royalties, and relative value approaches. This diversity is designed to provide Navigator with a stable and recurring revenue stream while offering exposure to multiple corners of the alternative asset management universe.
Navigator’s leadership has signalled strong confidence in the financial merits of this acquisition. The company anticipates the deal will deliver low double-digit earnings-per-share accretion in the first full year of ownership, and has projected its FY26 adjusted EBITDA to fall between US$100 million and US$104 million.
The Strategic Partnership With Stable
One of the key features of the deal is the long-term strategic partnership it creates between Navigator and Stable. Under the agreement, the acquired portfolio will be housed in a newly created vehicle called NGI Stable Growth, and Stable will continue to manage and monitor the portfolio on behalf of NGI. This arrangement provides continuity of oversight and preserves the expertise that Stable brings to GP seeding and acceleration.
The partnership also grants Navigator a pipeline of future GP seeding and acceleration opportunities, creating a potentially valuable funnel for future deal flow. Erik Serrano Berntsen, CEO of Stable, described the deal as a natural progression for the firm, noting that NGI’s scale and global network will strengthen Stable’s ability to support its GP partners as they build out their franchises.
Stephen Darke, CEO of Navigator, remarked that the addition of Stable’s roster of alternative asset managers strengthens NGI’s diversified platform and positions the company for sustained long-term growth.
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Who Is Stable Asset Management?
Stable Asset Management is one of the most established players in the GP stakes and seeding space. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York, the firm also maintains offices in London and West Palm Beach. Stable manages approximately US$5.2 billion in assets and has built partnerships with 45 alternative asset managers globally over its nearly two-decade history.
The firm positions itself as a GP stake builder, focusing on providing long-term, flexible capital alongside hands-on operational support to emerging and growing fund managers. Stable specifically targets founders operating in overlooked and less competitive market segments, backing managers across private equity, private credit, and absolute return strategies. The firm’s investments typically range from US$100 million to US$300 million, and it differentiates itself by offering in-house support covering capital formation, talent acquisition, and day-to-day operations.
Navigator’s Growing Platform
Navigator Global Investments has steadily evolved into a significant force in alternative asset management. Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, the company manages approximately US$32 billion of assets on an ownership-adjusted basis and more than US$98 billion in firm-level assets under management across its 12 partner firms. The company reported record earnings for its full year 2025, with revenues climbing 18% and adjusted EBITDA rising 26% year over year.
Navigator’s shares have performed strongly, surging 149% over the past twelve months. As of the announcement, shares were trading at A$2.40 under the entitlement offer pricing. CEO Stephen Darke has previously noted that Navigator holds a unique position as the only ASX-listed company focused exclusively on partnering with alternative asset managers, with 100% of its revenues derived from alternatives.
As of December 2024, the company’s affiliates managed over US$79 billion across 43 investment strategies and 205 products, with those strategies generally exhibiting low correlation to traditional equity and fixed-income markets. The company’s H1 FY2025 results showed revenue of A$92.3 million, a 28% increase from the prior corresponding period, while adjusted EBITDA reached A$41.4 million.
The Broader GP Stakes Boom
The Navigator-Stable deal comes amid a broader surge in GP stakes transactions across the global alternative investment landscape. According to Akin Gump’s 2026 outlook, the GP stakes market shows no signs of slowing down, with rising start-up costs for first-time fund managers driving growing demand for seeding capital from day one. Even established managers are increasingly considering GP stake sales as an efficient alternative to debt financing or as a way to facilitate succession planning and incentivise younger talent.
The strategy has evolved from a niche alignment tool into what Mayer Brown describes as a mainstream feature of the alternative asset management industry. For investors, GP stake investments offer an appealing combination of recurring cash yield from management fees, potential upside from carried interest, and exposure to the structural growth of the private markets sector, which global alternatives assets under management forecasted to reach nearly US$30 trillion by 2029 according to Preqin estimates.
Major institutional players have been scaling up their GP stakes programmes considerably. Blue Owl Capital’s GP stakes AUM has grown to approximately US$11.6 billion, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Petershill group, which has been investing in GP stakes since 2007, continues to expand its portfolio of manager partnerships. The proliferation of activity in this space means competition for the highest-quality managers is intensifying, making Stable’s deep and established network particularly valuable for Navigator.
Navigator’s Recent Strategic Moves
The Stable acquisition is not Navigator’s only major investment in recent months. In March 2026, the company announced a US$100 million strategic investment in Georgian, a Toronto-based AI-focused growth equity firm. That deal gave Navigator a 4.5% passive, indirect equity stake and a preferred economic interest in the founders’ holding vehicles of Georgian.
Georgian distinguishes itself through its in-house AI Lab of more than 20 engineers and data scientists who embed directly within portfolio company engineering teams to accelerate product development. The firm was founded in 2008 and takes a concentrated approach of about six investments per year in B2B technology companies operating across the AI technology stack. Navigator’s CIO Ross Zachary noted at the time that Georgian’s technical depth and AI Lab aligned with NGI’s strategy of deepening exposure to AI-driven growth equity.
The Georgian investment featured a deferred payment structure, with an initial US$5 million paid at closing and the remaining US$95 million scheduled over three years. The majority of proceeds are intended to fund future Georgian fund commitments rather than provide secondary liquidity to founders.
What This Means for Investors
Taken together, the Stable portfolio acquisition and the Georgian investment illustrate Navigator’s pivot towards a more diversified, platform-oriented approach to alternative asset management. By combining exposure to GP revenue-share interests with strategic equity stakes in specialised managers, the company is building a differentiated business model that offers multiple avenues for growth and income.
For existing NGI shareholders, the immediate consideration is the dilution from the entitlement offer, though the projected earnings accretion and the strategic value of the Stable pipeline should offset those concerns over the medium term. The deal also brings Navigator closer to a diversified revenue base that is less dependent on any single partner firm, reducing concentration risk.
The alternative asset management sector continues to attract significant institutional capital, and Navigator’s positioning within that trend, combined with its exclusive ASX-listed focus on alternatives, makes it a unique vehicle for investors seeking exposure to this expanding market. With the deal expected to close in the second half of 2026 and FY26 adjusted EBITDA guidance of US$100 million to US$104 million, the coming months will be critical in determining whether this ambitious acquisition delivers on its financial promise.
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