Countplus nears final acquisition before expected IPO
Countplus has made its 17th acquisition with another expected before its planned initial public offering at the end of the year.
Countplus, a wholly owned subsidiary of Count Financial, purchased a 25 per cent interest in Cartwright Brown & Company Financial Planning, which has funds under advice of about $275 million. Countplus has the options to acquire a further 50 per cent of the business prelisting, to buy the final 25 per cent post listing and acquire an associated accounting business at four times earnings before interest and taxes multiple.
In its annual results released to the Australian Securities Exchange a couple of weeks ago, Count detailed its strategy for Countplus following the expected listing in December. It expects earnings per share growth of 15 per cent per annum, 10 per cent of which will be through organic growth and 5 per cent through acquisitions.
It stated that further Countplus acquisitions after the listing would be along the same lines as its pre-float acquisitions.
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