MYOB receives non-binding $2.2b takeover bid from KKR
Accounting software company MYOB has received an unsolicited, non-binding takeover bid from New York-based private equity firm KKR, valuing the business at just under $2.2 billion. The cash proposal for $3.70 per share, which was first flagged by Street Talk, represents a 24 per cent premium to MYOB previous closing price of $2.98 per share. On an enterprise value basis (factoring in net debt and an adjustment for its share buyback), the deal is valued at $2.6 billion. The non-binding proposal is conditional on a range of factors including the unanimous recommendation of MYOB’s board, confirmation of confirmatory due diligence on KKR’s part and obtaining debt financing on acceptable terms. MYOB […]
Australians are turning to robo-advisers to boost their returns
Investors hunting for decent returns on their hard-earned cash are looking at other options outside of parking their money in the bank. Interest rates on term deposits and online savings accounts remain around 1 to 2 per cent while the value of Australian sharemarket has climbed by 9 per cent over the past 12 months. Shares have also paid dividends averaging a healthy 4 per cent. Accountant Guy Bane, 29, said he was always looking to diversify his investments and he had steered clear of keeping cash in the bank. Instead he used robo-adviser Stockspot to do the hard work for him. “I’m trying to build a bit more wealth […]
YTML opens Seido Financial Advice App Store
YTML will officially open the Seido Financial Advice App Store at the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) Conference on the Gold Coast this week. YTML CEO, Kevin Liao said Seido, which has already attracted various providers including SuiteBox, AstuteWheel, Omnium, ChantWest and customised offers, enables Apps which have been designed for each stage of the financial advice process to work together to create client-friendly, succinct and compliant advice documents in a fraction of the time it currently takes. “In this sense, the Seido App Store moves beyond what we traditionally think of when we think of App stores,” Mr Liao said. “It is designed to not only act as a […]
Specialist lender encourages brokers to think fintech
Fintechs are disrupting the way people bank, from moving money around accounts to applying for mortgages. While some are concerned about keeping pace with these technologies, or what it may mean for regulation, others are welcoming the changes. One such pioneer is Liberty which says the emergence of fintechs has enabled growth, praising their appetite to take risks and try new things. Liberty group sales manager, John Mohnacheff, encourages others to embrace new ideas, as it enables businesses to grow and develop. “At the core of our business is innovation and it’s a delight to be joined by entrepreneurs who are also experimenting with different ways of doing things,” he […]
Australia and US strike deal to share fintech trends and developments
Information-sharing on fintech market trends will be easier between Australian and US companies as a result of a new agreement signed between the two nations. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which protects market users and their funds, consumers, and the public from fraud, signed the Cooperation Arrangement on Financial Technology Innovation. On top of focusing on sharing information on fintech market trends and developments, the arrangement will also facilitate referrals of fintech companies interested in entering the others’ market, and sharing information and insight derived from each authority’s relevant sandbox, proofs of concept or innovation competitions. ASIC chair James Shipton […]
Gen Z using tech to become finance savvy
Young people are using money in ways unheard of a generation before. They have never known a card that doesn’t tap and go, or a phone that can’t control every aspect of their financial lives. While many pass off Gen Z as just an extension of the “smashed avocado” generation, some commentators say they have a very different mindset to Gen Y and are more savvy about how they spend and invest money. Dale Gillham, executive director and founder at Wealth Within, a financial services and education company, says: “A few years ago nobody under 30 would talk to us to much,” he says. “Now we’re finding that under 25s […]
Perth Mint’s GoldPass app for tech-savvy Gen Y traders
Perth Mint boss Richard Hayes hopes the State-owned entity can attract tech-savvy millennials with its new gold trading smartphone app. GoldPass is a secure investment platform that allows people to buy, store and sell gold and transfer the precious metal to others via digital certificates with real time settlement. The digital certificates are backed by physical gold stored at the Perth Mint and its network of central bank-grade vaults. There are no storage fees but the mint makes money via brokerage fees ranging from 0.2 and one per cent depending on the size of the transaction. Mr Hayes said the mint already had a solid customer base, generally made up […]
Neobanks are coming: What the revolution means for you
For the first time the big four Australian banks are about to face several new challengers at once as a group of ‘neobanks’ promise to change the way you manage your money. Eric Wilson was a senior executive at NAB, getting nagged by his father-in-law, a former bank manager for the Bank of New South Wales when he decided he’d had enough. “He used to always say to me ‘Eric, why is banking like this? It used to be about people but now it’s just about screwing people for as much money as they can,” Wilson tells Your Money. “Eventually I had a bit of an epiphany when I was […]
