DASH secures additional $10m for IPS acquisition
DASH Technology Group has received a further $10 million investment from capital growth investor Bailador Technology Investments.
DASH, an Australian financial planning software and platform provider, secured an initial $20 million investment from Bailador earlier this year in July to fast-track its key developments.
In an ASX announcement on 10 October, Bailador confirmed it has invested an additional $10 million in the company. This is structured as a $5 million equity investment and a repayable $5 million debt facility. Bailador’s carrying value for DASH will rise to $25 million to reflect the follow-on investment.
Bailador stated the new investment will be utilised by DASH to fund its acquisition of Integrated Portfolio Solutions (IPS) that was announced in July.
IPS is a portfolio administration solution with $10.6 billion in funds under administration (FUA). It acts as a “whole-of-wealth” non-custodial platform and removes the burden of portfolio administration. It currently services investment advisers, family offices, financial planners and ultra-high-net-worth direct clients.
DASH previously said the deal would enable the group to develop a new advice model and grow its FUA to more than $15 billion.
“DASH’s acquisition of IPS will enable it to take to market a comprehensive technology solution that serves the full financial planning spectrum from clients beginning to build their wealth through to ultra-high-net-worth investors and family offices,” said David Kirk, Bailador co-founder and managing partner.
“Financially, it will see DASH reach over $15 billion in FUA and a new level of revenue scale from which to grow organically.”
Moreover, the transaction will mean the entire IPS team is joining the DASH business. This includes IPS executive director Darryl Johnson and its chief commercial officer Mark Papendieck.
DASH recently announced its FY2023–24 results last month, in which it reported a 50.3 per cent group revenue growth. In a statement to Money Management, DASH chief executive Andrew Whelan signalled its inorganic growth plans on the horizon through additional M&A deals.
He said at the time: “Given we’re the only true end-to-end advice solution, we have a deep pipeline that we will be onboarding over 12 months. We will also continue to look at strategic acquisitions over the next 12 months.
“DASH’s growth strategy has been, and will continue to be, centred around delivering the most complete and scalable solution in the market.”
AUTHOR
Jasmine Siljic
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