LBA/OWB plans national expansion
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A combined Melbourne-based risk insurance and accounting business plans to buy more practices to boost its presence in Victoria and New South Wales.
LBA Financial Services and OWB Chartered Accountants are in the final stages of merging the two businesses, director Bruce Birchall said.
“We have acquired some small practices in the past couple of years in Victoria, but now we want to consolidate our position in both states,” he said.
“We are looking to acquire financial planning, accounting and general insurance practices.”
LBA offers risk and general insurance as well as financial planning while OWB offers accounting and financial planning services.
Birchall said LBA has eight financial planners while OWB has three, but the two combined businesses will employ 65 staff with offices in Melbourne and Sydney as well as three offices in regional Victoria and New South Wales.
“The integration of the two businesses has worked well as we both understand the needs of our financial planning people,” he said.
“Many times accountants try to merge with financial planners and it fails because nether side understands the other’s business.”
Birchall said the fit was also good because both parties brought different skills to the table.
“It is two different businesses coming together and fitting together well to offer clients of LBA and OWB a complete service from accounting through to general insurance,” he said.
“One of the attractions of the merger was the ability to offer a one business approach to clients, which will enable us to deliver better solutions to their financial services needs in the future.”
The two businesses have a long history with LBA being formed in 1967 and OWB in 1964.
LBA has been an accounting client of OWB for many years and it was this relationship that led to discussions about merging.
“We have dealt with OWB partner Peter Walton for many years and we started talking about the benefits of merging last year,” Birchall said.
“We expect to be fully integrated in the next couple of months.”
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