Potentia’s golden handcuffs | Quadran t inks cybersecurity deal | Dexus lobs Campus Living Villages bid

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Tim Reed and Andy Gray’s Potentia Capital almost blew it out of the water with Micromine in 2022, when Nasdaq-listed Aspen Technology’s $900 million bid valued the mining software player at 9.4-times money.

But 16 months after thedeal collapsed, Potentia’s founders don’t seem to have made any efforts to nail down what could shape up as a marquee exit. Why’s that?

Street Talk understands Potentia Capital has been taking advice from Jarden’s technology bankers on exiting its big winner, but is intentionally taking things slow thanks to its internal staff ructions that this column revealed in October.

Sources said that’s because Micromine, an investment made from Potentia’s maiden $180 million fund, is slated to make an eye-watering return and the firm’s dealmakers have a significant amount of carry attached to it. Their cut of the profits is expected to be close to $150 million.

Usually, a big carry cheque would be great news for a buyout firm.

But in Potentia’s case, Micromine’s bountiful carry is serving as golden handcuffs that Gray and Reed are using to keep their chargers shackled to the firm during a period of discontent, sources said.

The $7.5 billion listed landlord Dexus has submitted a bid for the Australian portfolio of big super’s student housing player Campus Living Villages, which this year resurrected a failed $2 billion sale attempt from 2016.

The Australian sharemarket dropped on Friday in a broad sell-off as investors turned cautious ahead of a key job report in the US that may shed light on whether the Federal Reserve will continue easing interest rates this month.

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