• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feed

Investment News NZ

Investment News provides financial advisers news stories from the financial industry in New Zealand. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter.

  • Home
  • News
  • Kiwisaver
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Investment News / UK buyout to add almost $300bn to FNZ scale

UK buyout to add almost $300bn to FNZ scale

July 21, 2019

Adrian Durham: FNZ global CEO

FNZ has splashed out on its second major purchase in less than a year after acquiring the UK-headquartered platform technology firm JHC last week.

In a statement, Adrian Durham, said the deal would “not only consolidate our combined position in the UK market, but to take JHC technology propositions into new strategic territories – such as APAC and continental Europe – and into new product areas.”

JHC has about £160 billion (or NZ$295 billion) in funds under administration (FUA) via three underlying software systems – dubbed Figaro, Xenon and Neon – compared to £380 billion for FNZ. Last week FNZ also finalised its purchase of the German ebase from Comdirect Bank for about £140 million. The ebase agreement, announced a year ago, added about over £30 billion to the FNZ FUA.

However, the JHC deal represented a significant step up in scale for FNZ, which now has the backing of new hefty North American majority private equity owners.

“JHC has a market leading and well-established technology platform in the UK, combined with new state-of-the-art digital solutions,” Durham said in the statement.

While JHC does not yet have any Australasian clients, the group has an exclusive distribution arrangement with Auckland-based MyFiduciary to market its Neon portfolio compliance tool in the region.

John Blackman, JHC chief, said in the release that merging with FNZ was “the perfect way for us to grow our business”.

“It is great news for our clients as FNZ is committed to investing in Figaro, Neon and Xenon and supporting our plans for the future,” Blackman said. “FNZ will support JHC in enhancing and growing our SaaS offerings and gives JHC the opportunity to offer new, broader functionality to our clients.”

FNZ is also embroiled in a heated three-way battle to take out Australian platform software provider GBST. The Edinburgh-based FNZ offered a reported A$3.50 per share (or about A$240 million in total) for GBST last month in a bid to gazump earlier contenders SS&C Technologies and Bravura.

On July 3 SS&C upped its bid to A$3.60 per share under a three-week exclusive due diligence agreement with GBST.

FNZ subsequently applied to the Australian Takeovers Panel (ATP) to block the SS&C exclusivity deal GBST after its revised offer of $3.65 was rejected.

The ATP last week declined the FNZ application, noting that while “the process adopted by GBST was not conventional, it did not consider the process unacceptable”.

“To date, that process had led to significantly increased indicative offer prices to the benefit of GBST’s shareholders,” the ATP ruling says. “The Panel considered that there was nothing that prompted it to second guess the GBST board’s decisions. It noted that there was nothing to prevent third parties submitting a superior proposal to GBST to trigger the fiduciary out.”

GBST has little, if any, exposure in NZ but it has a strong presence in its home base of Australia and in the UK market. If it could snap up GBST, FNZ would further cement its grip on the UK platform market while opening up opportunities in Australia, which has, to date, proved elusive for the NZ-built global fintech star.

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Twitter0
LinkedIn0
Google+0
Facebook0

Read More » Investment News

Recent articles

  • Chief exits Kiwi Wealth; Mosaic names ASB ops expert as partner; T Rowe Price keeps Australasia wholesale role in the family February 28, 2021
  • Revenge against the ombudspeople: complaints body zombie legal action walks on February 28, 2021
  • Simplicity into top 10 ESG fund share for Australasia… February 28, 2021
  • … as Milford, Hyperion top Morningstar awards February 28, 2021
  • Tough calls ahead for local fixed income managers February 28, 2021
  • Boutique buoyancy management: how Ark stays afloat with more on board February 28, 2021
  • Master trusts surpass $8bn ahead of AMP passive rebirth February 28, 2021
  • T+1 and counting: why US trading systems could reach unsettling speeds February 28, 2021
  • Nature calls: under-construction financial disclosure framework to go beyond climate February 28, 2021
Finished reading? Why not subscribe? To receive a weekly email enter your email address here.

Primary Sidebar

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Learn More »

Investment News

  • Chief exits Kiwi Wealth; Mosaic names ASB ops expert as partner; T Rowe Price keeps Australasia wholesale role in the family February 28, 2021
  • Revenge against the ombudspeople: complaints body zombie legal action walks on February 28, 2021
  • Simplicity into top 10 ESG fund share for Australasia… February 28, 2021
  • … as Milford, Hyperion top Morningstar awards February 28, 2021
  • Tough calls ahead for local fixed income managers February 28, 2021
  • Boutique buoyancy management: how Ark stays afloat with more on board February 28, 2021
  • Master trusts surpass $8bn ahead of AMP passive rebirth February 28, 2021
  • T+1 and counting: why US trading systems could reach unsettling speeds February 28, 2021
  • Nature calls: under-construction financial disclosure framework to go beyond climate February 28, 2021
  • Front-to-back outsourcing transforms funds management February 28, 2021

Search by Keyword

Most Recent Investment News

Chief exits Kiwi Wealth; Mosaic names ASB ops expert as partner; T Rowe Price keeps Australasia wholesale role in the family

February 28, 2021

Revenge against the ombudspeople: complaints body zombie legal action walks on

February 28, 2021

Simplicity into top 10 ESG fund share for Australasia…

February 28, 2021

… as Milford, Hyperion top Morningstar awards

February 28, 2021

Tough calls ahead for local fixed income managers

February 28, 2021

Investment News Archive

Most Popular Articles

  • NZ share-trading splurge could trigger tax alarms… posted on October 5, 2020
  • Westpac NZ flags retail advice sale to Forsyth Barr posted on October 19, 2020
  • Flint set to spark platform competition posted on August 17, 2020
  • The horror year in technicolour: free KiwiSaver 13 report released posted on September 30, 2020
  • Four to the core: Smartshares to expand, rearrange and reprice ETFs posted on June 22, 2020
  • Kitset KiwiSaver scheme set to unwrap in spring posted on April 27, 2020
  • Funds eye bargains, self-shoppers hoard cash, KiwiSavers turn conservative posted on March 15, 2020
  • NZ Funds directors back on board posted on April 24, 2016

Sponosored Content

David-Boyle

Jumping lessons: what all investors can learn from GameStop loss

What do ‘Kiwi’ experts see for 2021?

David-Boyle

On the industry play-list: four chart-topping regulations for 2021

David-Boyle

Charge of the lite (advice) brigade

Quick-links to Popular News

  • FAP Compliance
  • Coronavirus
  • New Appointments
  • Financial Markets Authority (FMA)
  • Kiwisaver
  • Climate Change
  • Crypto Currency
  • Blockchain
  • Insurance

Secondary Sidebar

Recent News

  • Chief exits Kiwi Wealth; Mosaic names ASB ops expert as partner; T Rowe Price keeps Australasia wholesale role in the family February 28, 2021
  • Revenge against the ombudspeople: complaints body zombie legal action walks on February 28, 2021
  • Simplicity into top 10 ESG fund share for Australasia… February 28, 2021
  • … as Milford, Hyperion top Morningstar awards February 28, 2021
  • Tough calls ahead for local fixed income managers February 28, 2021
  • Boutique buoyancy management: how Ark stays afloat with more on board February 28, 2021
  • Master trusts surpass $8bn ahead of AMP passive rebirth February 28, 2021
  • T+1 and counting: why US trading systems could reach unsettling speeds February 28, 2021
  • Nature calls: under-construction financial disclosure framework to go beyond climate February 28, 2021
  • Front-to-back outsourcing transforms funds management February 28, 2021

Footer

Copyright ©2020 InvestmentNews.co.nz — All Rights Reserved ·— Terms & Conditions