Powerhouse Ventures (ASX:PVL) Merchant Model Delivers 22x and 240% Deal Wins

Find the Mispricing, Fund the Deal, Capture the Re-Rate

Successful investing comes down to one thing, spotting the gap between what the market expects and what the fundamentals actually support, then moving before the crowd closes it.

Powerhouse Ventures advisory arm did exactly that with Nordic Resources (ASX:NNL). As the gold price surged, PVL saw that small cap gold projects had not re-rated with it. The market was still pricing these names as if bullion had never moved. Sitting inside that lag was Nordic, a project with near-surface mineralisation and a sizable measured resource, the two ingredients most likely to drive a re-rate once the market caught up.

This is where the merchant model turns an observation into a return. Rather than simply advising on the raise, PVL invested alongside it. Powerhouse led a A$3.5 million placement priced at 6 cents, struck at a premium to market and twice oversubscribed. As the thesis played out, Nordic re-rated beyond 20 cents, a gain of more than 240%, while the raise reshaped the register with quality holders. PVL captured that upside directly, not just an advisory fee.

That is the engine in a single deal. Find the mispricing early, structure the capital, back it with conviction, then let the re-rate flow through both the advisory line and the portfolio. For a fuller breakdown of how the merchant model works, see our last coverage.

So the question for investors is not whether PVL can find these opportunities. It is how these wins happen, why they repeat, and what that means for investors. That is what the rest of this note unpacks.

Metal Powder Works (ASX: MPW)

Metal Powder Works (ASX: MPW) is the clearest proof of what the merchant model can do when the thesis and the tailwind line up. Powerhouse brought the company to the ASX via a reverse takeover, acting as corporate advisor and cornerstone investor, and turned that into a 22x return.

The setup was a strong sector tailwind. MPW sits in additive manufacturing, a space drawing billions of dollars in US-subsidised capital as manufacturing reshores to domestic supply chains. More importantly, MPW sits at the production layer of that value chain, making the metal powder that feeds it, rather than competing further downstream where margins are thinner and players more crowded.

The execution matched the thesis. MPW re-listed in March 2025 at an issue price of 20 cents and closed its first day at 37 cents. From there the momentum held, with the company raising a further $15 million at $3.50 to scale production and accelerate sales, and the stock trading as high as $4.55 within six months.

That is the merchant model compounding. Powerhouse did not just advise on the listing and move on. It cornerstoned the deal, held through the re-rate, and captured the upside as MPW ran from 20 cents to $4.55. One relationship, one thesis, a 22x outcome across advisory and portfolio at once.

Figure 1 below also outlines some of PVL’s most successful transactions under the merchant business model.  

Figure 1: Capital Markets Track Record

The Team Is the Competitive Advantage

Everything in this note traces back to the same source, and it is worth naming plainly. The crux of strong returns, whether you are managing a portfolio or advising on a deal, comes down to relationships and expertise.

That is what becomes the core competitive advantage of an investment firm. None of the outcomes you have read about, the 22x on Metal Powder Works or the 240% on Nordic Resources, came from a factory, a piece of IP, or a slab of hardware. They came from the team.

This is the part of an investment firm that is easy to overlook and impossible to replicate. An investment house derives its value from its judgment, its relationships, and its ability to act and execute on both. That is why, for a business like PVL, the quality of the team is not one factor among many. It is the asset.

Figure 2 gives a quick breakdown of the corporate profile behind PVL. It starts with James Kruger as Chairman, whose 25-year investment banking career has done much to shape the PVL investing philosophy.

Alongside him sits Doron Eldar, a deep tech specialist who has executed multiple VC funding rounds across international markets, and Dave McNamee, who brings a strong record of outperformance in the micro and small cap space. Their experience works in synergy, with each covering a different stage of the same engine, and together they build out both the advisory and funds management sides of the business. 

Figure 2: Corporate Profile

The Investors Takeaway for PVL

If we put this together for investors, that is why PVL’s track record looks more like a process than a run of luck, as Figure 3 shows. Origination, judgment, structuring and distribution are each held by someone who has done it at scale before, which is precisely what makes the wins repeatable. For investors, this is the real answer to the hardest question you can ask of any investment company, which is not what they have returned, but whether they can do it again.

Figure 3: Funds Management Performance