M&A

Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) is planning to offload its banking business to that it can better focus on its main business, its insurance arm, in an attempt to improve returns and value for shareholders. The move is in line with the big banks that have offloaded their investment, advice or insurance arms to re-focus on their…

Centrepoint Alliance (ASX:CAF) this week announced it had received a non-binding indicative offer from Diverger Limited (ASX:DVR) to acquire all the shares in the company. The offer for CAF is: Combination of cash and Diverger shares valued at 32.5 cents per CAF share This price represented a 30% premium to Centrepoint Alliance’s last closing price,…

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd and Global X ETFs this week announced the acquisition of ETF Securities, a pioneer of exchange traded funds both in Australia and around the world. The deal sees ETF Securities’ innovative stable of investments move under a new banner and likely represents an acceleration of competition in the sector…

Leading sustainable investment manager Australian Ethical has recruited a number of industry veterans for its investment committee as it enters merger talks with Christian Super. Sean Henaghan, former CIO of AMP’s Multi-Asset Group and current CIO of Aurora Capital, will join Australian Ethical’s investment committee. Also joining are Sandra McCullagh, current non-executive director (NED) of…

One of Australia’s fastest growing wealth management and financial advisory firms, Akambo Financial Group, this week announced a merger with Melbourne-based First Financial, effective immediately. The group will combine to manage more than $3 billion on behalf of a diverse range of clients. It marks one of the most significant deals in the financial services…

Following on from the Banking Royal Commission of 2017-18, the growing popularity of boutique independent financial advisers has grown consistently, with clients seeing value in advisers that are building strong personal relationships and providing a consistent high-quality service to their clients. Boutique advisory firms typically have a niche area of expertise where they can differentiate…

Leading responsible and sustainable investment manager Australian Ethical (ASX:AEF) this week announced their intention to merge with industry fund Christian Super. If completed, the combined entity would manage some $9 billion and serve around 100,000 members across the country. Christian Super, and similar religious-leaning super funds were some of the earliest adopters of the ESG…

Asset manager Perpetual has made a bold $2.4 billion takeover bid for asset manager Pendal, which it says would create a “leader in the Australian asset management market”, and analysts are upbeat on the deal, with some saying a higher bid could emerge. Perpetual has launched a conditional, non-binding proposal to buy 100 per cent…

The financial advisory market is set to have a new leader when measured by financial adviser headcount, with WT Financial Group’s decision to acquire licensee company Synchron set to create the “largest non-institutionally-owned financial adviser network”. Completion of the deal, which an announcement to the ASX indicated was for consideration of up to $7.96 million,…

He is far from a household name in the Australian funds management industry – and definitely not one of the star stock-pickers often profiled in the financial media – but few would have begrudged Mugunthan (Mugsy) Siva a quiet fist-pump after the calendar-year returns for 2021 came out, with his India Avenue Equity Fund returning…

Australia’s leading micro-investing app, Raiz, is not so micro, having finally busted through the $1 billion funds under management mark. Last week, Raiz (ASX: RZI) delivered its quarterly (December 2021) numbers, which had some gleaming highlights. The company reported total revenue up 82.9 per cent year-on-year, which was a huge increase to $4.5 million in…

The M&A boom is set to continue in 2022 according to deals frenzy set to continue into 2022, according to Corrs Chambers Westgarth’s M&A 2022 Outlook report. The Australian M&A market has sprung back to life, with current conditions paving the way for another busy year ahead,   As it stands, Australia is set for its…