Perth firm sets a precedent with WA's KPMG
Perth-based Precedent Financial Planning has bought KPMG's Western Australian financial planning arm, creating a new force with $400 million in combined assets under advice.
Perth-based Precedent Financial Planning has bought KPMG's Western Australian financial planning arm, creating a new force with $400 million in combined assets under advice.
KPMG's four WA advisers - Ted Thacker, Clayton Smith, Michael Mat-thews and Paul Foster - and all support staff will move to Prece-dent, taking $220 million in assets under advice with them.
"We will be one of the biggest financial planning companies in West-ern Australia and we expect to move into an advanced growth stage," says Thacker, the managing director of KPMG Financial Services (WA).
"Precedent is an auditing and tax client of KPMG. We have had a long standing relationship with each other and we know each others' busi-nesses very well."
He says further alliances between the two groups are expected.
On a national level, KPMG Financial Services recently confirmed that it was looking to sell its financial services business because of po-tential conflicts of interest with its audit operations.
It is understood that a due diligence process is underway at the East Coast operations, but executive director Max Weston declined to elaborate at this stage.
According to Thacker, it made sense for KPMG to sell its Western Aus-tralian operations off separately.
"It was an independent and reasonably autonomous business, although we did share some common things where we could benefit from economies of scale."
Thacker is relieved that a "Dutch Auction" was avoided, adding: "Price was not the only determinant in the final sale. We had to take into consideration the competing interests of clients, staff, minority shareholders and KPMG."
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