Stockford lists at 23 per cent premium
Accountancy and financial planning consolidator Stockford has listed at a solid 23 cent premium to its $1.00 offer price and attracted solid volume in its first hour of trade.
Stockford listed on the ASX at 11.00 today at a 23 per cent premium after closing its $20 million public offer fully subscribed on November 17. The offer valued Stockford at $180 million.
The group brings together 45 accounting, financial planning and business advisory firms, and has about $1.4 billion funds under advice with annual revenues of about $100 million.
The listing follows the $10 million purchase of a 7 per cent stake in the group by St George Bank in early October. St George also placed a former senior executive from its Asgard master trust and Securitor and Pact financial planning businesses, Mark Rantall, in charge of the group's financial services operations. St George's financial services general manager, Richard Cawsey, has also taken a role in the group as chairman of the board.
Stockford is the second major financial planning group to list this year, following Fiducian's listing in September. The next group off the blocks is Count Wealth Accountants which closed oversubscribed yesterday and is set for a listing on December 12.
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