Mercury Capital Fund 3
Mercury Capital is an independently owned private equity firm based in Australia, investing in the lower to mid-market segment across Australia and New Zealand. The firm partners with owners and management teams to deliver strategic execution, scale operations to unlock sustainable growth.
Founded in 2010, Mercury focuses on backing established, market-leading companies with strong leadership teams, scalable operations and clear growth potential, working in close partnership with owners and management to execute strategic and value creation initiatives.
Mercury Capital Fund 3 is a 2019 vintage year fund with $600 million in investor commitments, targeting investment into established, market-leading businesses across the Australia and New Zealand.
Portfolio Companies
At investment in August 2019, Squiz was Australia’s largest Content Management System and Enterprise Search business with c.439 employees and operations across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Poland and the US. The business had established a market-leading position in government and higher education, while also securing marquee clients in the UK and beginning to win contracts in the US.
Mercury’s thesis aims to support Squiz in consolidating its strong domestic position while accelerating expansion into the UK and US markets, leveraging marquee clients and a differentiated platform.
Squiz remains an active investment, continuing to grow its global footprint and strengthen its customer base.
At investment MessageMedia was a leading global customer engagement platform providing software to businesses that enables the management and delivery of two-way messaging communication.
The thesis was to rebuild the management team, consolidate platforms and expand globally through strategic M&A, including US-based SimpleTexting, transforming the company into a leading customer engagement platform.
Mercury sold MessageMedia in 2021 to Nasdaq-listed Sinch for A$1.7 billion, one of Australia’s largest technology transactions. At exit, the business employed 350+ staff, sent over 420 million messages per month and served 60,000+ clients globally.
At investment in March 2020, TEG was the market-leading live entertainment and ticketing business in Australia and New Zealand, operating Ticketek with c.70% market share in major concerts and tier-one sports events and event promotion brands TEG Dainty and TEG Live, employing c.500 staff across Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia and the UK.
The thesis aims to support TEG’s leadership in ticketing and event promotion while enabling continued expansion internationally.
TEG remains an active investment, continuing to expand its operations across multiple geographies.
At investment in July 2020, Are Media was Australia’s largest magazine publisher with 48 print titles and 30 digital platforms across Women’s, Homes, Food, Fashion & Beauty and Motoring. Its portfolio included iconic brands such as Australian Women’s Weekly, Woman’s Day and New Idea.
The thesis aims to stabilise and transform the business by optimising costs, driving digital expansion, whilst leveraging its strong portfolio of trusted brands.
The business was subsequently rebranded as Are Media, which remains the market leader in magazine publishing in Australia with a strong digital presence.
At investment in December 2020, ResourceCo was Australia’s largest private waste-to-energy and tyre recycling company, employing over 750 staff across 18 sites in Australia and Malaysia. The business operated across three divisions: waste-to-energy, tyre recovery and recycling and remediation, with longstanding partnerships with multinationals such as SUEZ, Lafarge, Bridgestone and Cleanaway.
Mercury’s thesis aims to back the clear market leader in sustainable waste recovery and support expansion in Australia and internationally.
ResourceCo remains an active investment, operating eight business units across three divisions.
At investment in April 2021, Green Options was Australia’s leading commercial landscape maintenance provider, specialising in elite sports turf and educational facilities. Headquartered in Sydney with over 370 employees, the business had established a strong reputation for quality service and presented a national platform opportunity.
The thesis aims to create the first national platform in landscape maintenance through bolt-on acquisitions and organic growth initiatives.
Green Options remains an active investment, continuing to expand its workforce and operations across Australia and New Zealand.
At investment in June 2021, E&P Financial Group was an ASX-listed diversified financial services company with more than 450 staff across offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. The company operated across three core divisions: E&P Wealth, serving c.9,000 high-net-worth families and super funds; E&P Capital, a leading corporate advisory and institutional equities business; and E&P Funds, an asset management platform investing across equities, private assets and real assets.
The thesis aims to support growth across wealth management, corporate advisory and asset management in a market benefiting from structural tailwinds in superannuation and wealth accumulation.
In November 2023, E&P Financial Group transitioned from the ASX to become an unlisted public company, continuing to operate as a diversified financial services business across wealth management, corporate advisory and asset management.
E&P remains an active investment, building on its diversified platform and client base.
At investment in October 2021, Architectus was one of Australia’s largest commercial architecture firms with over 350 staff operating across five national studios. The business had a diverse client base of more than 170 blue-chip organisations across transport, education, commercial, residential and government.
Mercury’s thesis aims to back a Tier-1 design firm with a loyal and diversified client base, supporting growth through service quality, collaboration and repeatable project delivery.
Architectus remains an active investment, continuing to expand its presence and secure major national projects.
At investment in April 2022, Re.Group was an Australian recycling and resource recovery business that had recently completed the bolt-on acquisition of Polytrade. Headquartered in Sydney, the combined business employed over 500 staff across 19 operating sites and 94 collection points, operating through its three divisions: Re.Cycle (municipal sorting and processing), Return-It (container deposit schemes) and RDT Engineering (specialised facility design and build).
The thesis aims to create the national leader in recycling and container deposit schemes by funding consolidation and growth initiatives.
Re.Group remains an active investment, scaling its operations across Australia and strengthening its market leadership.
