Sequoia makes $2m acquisition
Sequoia has made an acquisition as it expands its professional services offering.
In an ASX statement, it said it has acquired legal services provider Australian Business Structures Pty (ABS) for $2 million through its subsidiary Docscentre Pty. The firm has been providing legal documents for more than 20 years.
Sequoia, headed up by chief executive Garry Crole, said it is looking to broaden the product offering in that division and enhance margins and has been vocal in the past about its strategic vision of providing an extensive service range to its advisers.
In order to achieve this, ABS is expected to delivering additional operating profit before tax of $500,000 per annum.
Brent Jones, head of professional services at Sequoia, said this streamlining the legal document business will allow Sequoia to continue to build its presence in the accounting and advice industry while strengthening margin.
In June, the firm signed a heads of agreement to acquire and merge Castle Corporate and Castle Legal.
The two businesses are described as “prominent and reputable firms specialising in providing accountants, financial advisers, and lawyers comprehensive advice and solutions relating to new and existing companies, trusts, and self-managed super funds (SMSFs)”.
It also acquired a 20 per cent stake in Euree Asset Management in the same month, a new firm headed by former Australian Football League (AFL) player James Hird as chief executive.
Sequoia said: “[Euree] will initially offer three fund options aimed at supporting financial advisers who want to reduce the cost of advice by accessing a single fund that has the intellectual property and knowhow to select a range of investments under one umbrella across various asset classes to form either a balanced, growth or property-style fund.”
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
Sequoia Financial Group has declined by five financial advisers in the past week, four of whom have opened up a new AFSL, according to Wealth Data.
Insignia Financial chief executive Scott Hartley has detailed whether the firm will be selecting an exclusive bidder for the second phase of due diligence as it awaits revised bids from three private equity players.
Insignia Financial has reported a statutory net loss after tax of $17 million in its first half results, although the firm has noted cost optimisation means this is an improvement from a $50 million loss last year.
With alternative funds being described as “impossible” for fund managers to target towards advisers without the support of BDMs for education, Money Management explores the evolving nature of the distribution role.
