ASX-listed Euroz has confirmed that it will acquire fellow Perth-based stockbroker Blackswan Equities.
ASX-listed Euroz has confirmed that it will acquire fellow Perth-based stockbroker, Blackswan Equities.
Euroz will buy privately-held Blackswan by issuing its owners up to 5.2 million shares, worth about $6.7 million, in a deal first foreshadowed by Business News yesterday.
The Blackswan operations and employees will be merged under the Euroz brand and the combined company will be housed at Euroz’s office in the Alluvion building on Mounts Bay Road.
The combined entity will have 46 client advisers, making it the equal second biggest stockbroker in Western Australia after Hartleys and behind Patersons Securities, which has 80 advisers.
As part of the deal, all four members of the Blackswan board – Tony Kenny, Tim Weir, Tom Loh and Tim Lyons – will join Euroz as executive directors.
Euroz chairman Andrew McKenzie said Blackswan would complement the business and provide cost and operational synergies for the group.
“Blackswan have an excellent reputation as a strong private client and portfolio administration business and their expertise in this area will enhance our wealth management capabilities,” he said.
Blackswan reported net profit of $569,765 on revenue of $9.3 million for the year ending June 2013, down 69 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, while Euroz reported net profit for the year ending June 2013 of $6.3 million from revenue of $38.4 million, down 47 per cent and 61 per cent respectively.
Mr McKenzie said the 2012-13 financial year was the most difficult in the past 12 years but anticipated a pick-up in the market for the year ahead.
Blackswan’s largest capital raising in the past year was a $9.2 million share placement for Strike Energy in August, while Euroz’s largest capital raising in that period was an $80 million share placement for Sundance Energy in February.
Blackswan opened for business in May 2009 under the leadership of former Macquarie Equities and Porter Western directors Tim and Simon Lyons. In the same year it merged with Stripe Capital, which was formed in 2005 when a team from Macquarie joined ex-Sealcorp chief Jan Kolbusz.