Coin won’t flip van Eyk
CoinSoftware’s acquisition by Macquarie Adviser Services would not affect its marketing and product integration relationship with van Eyk Research, according to Coin founder Darren Pettiona.
Pettiona also poured cold water on talk that a deal with Macquarie was imminent.
“We’re having commercial discussions with [Adviser Services executive director] Neil Roderick and the team, and obviously acquisition has been mentioned in those, but we’re no further than that,” he said, declining to give an estimate of when negotiations would be finalised.
Pettiona, who doubles as van Eyk’s head of distribution, launched Coin in June 2003 along with VisiPlan creators Ian Litster and Suwandi Tan.
Van Eyk owns 5 per cent of the company and could expect a handsome return on its founding shareholding if Macquarie bought it out. This is because Coin has won clients to its desktop software, which incorporates van Eyk portfolio construction tools, at a fast clip.
Advisers at Commonwealth Bank and Westpac will shortly have the software rolled out to them, adding to the approximately 1,000 advisers able to currently access Coin, Pettiona said.
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