Assirt Equities Research moves out of St George shadow
AssirtEquities Research has made a step away from St George and will take on a new name after the staff bought back a controlling stake in the business.
The buyout was led by the 40 staff who work with the group, who purchased the 60 per cent stake for about $10 million. The principal of Aegis, Peter Leodaritsis will be the majority shareholder with more than 50 per cent of the shares on issue while the staff will own the remainder.
The group will be renamed as Aegis Equities Research which originally started out as Leodaritsis Morgan Equities Research in July 1999 which was a 50/50 joint venture between Peter Leodaritsis and Roy Morgan Research. In February 2000, Roy Morgan Research sold its interest to St.George Bank and the company then took on the name of Assirt Equities Research.
Leodaritsis has remained with the group and will take on the role of principal with Aegis and says the change of name and ownership were key issues in the company demonstrating the need for complete independence in equities research.
Aegis will retain its team of 27 research analysts and will continue to work with clients within the industry as well as around 20,000 users registered through its investment portal, shareanalysis.com, as well as retaining its equities research arrangement with a number of funds management groups.
Leodaritsis says that while the group has asserted its own place it would still maintain a relationship with St George.
“While St George Bank will no longer hold a stake in our business they will remain a key client and are an active supporter of our objective to become Australia’s leading provider of independent equities research,” Leodaritsis says.
AUTHOR
Jason Spits
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