Grok Ventures sells out of Tyro Payments in $77m block trade
A decision by Grok Ventures, the private investment vehicle operated by Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, to stop investing in listed equities has set loose a chunky block trade at Tyro Payments.
Mike Cannon-Brookes says bye, bye to Tyro Payments. Bloomberg
A $77 million block of Tyro shares traded after market close on Thursday, equalling 12 per cent of the company. The trade was done at $1.20 apiece by Canaccord Genuity, a small discount to Tyro’s $1.25 per share last close.
With Grok the only shareholder with a holding so big at Tyro Payments, fingers were pointing to it as the only possible seller. It marks the end of an eventful year for Grok on Tyro’s register. It was instrumental in pushing Tyro’s board to engage with bidders – although the last one standing, Potentia Capital, folded its cards in May after lengthy due diligence.
Fund manager sources said Macquarie Capital and Jarden had sniffed around the impending block recently, before Canaccord Genuity won the job. Investors and equity capital markets teams would have their eyes peeled for other stakes that may fall out of Grok’s portfolio, as it reverses out of listed equities to focus on infrastructure and start-ups.
Its listed portfolio was led by Armina Rosenberg, who joined Grok in 2017 via JPMorgan and the Whyte family’s Audant Investment. She was dubbed the “punk-rock portfolio manager” in a profile published in The Australian Financial Review in 2019.
By 2019, Grok was invested in a wide range of technology companies including Alibaba, Zoom, Apple, Adobe, Salesforce, Amazon and Netflix – as well as ASX-listed Marley Spoon, Infigen Energy, NextDC and Redbubble.
Grok chief executive Jeremy Kwong-Law is prioritising investments in decarbonisation
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