WHK continues on acquisition trail
Independent financial planning group WHK Group plans to launch itself into the general insurance arena following the acquisition of another three accounting and financial services firms.
The three new groups were purchased as part of WHK’s ‘tuck in’ strategic member firm acquisitions and bring the group’s buying spree total to 14 ‘tuck in’ acquisitions in the past six months.
The latest purchases include: Muker & Marriott, a Ballarat-based financial planning group; KG & FR Hall, a small financial planning practice based in Broken Hill; and Kennedy & Pollock, a general insurance firm based in Victoria.
WHK Group’s CEO Graeme Fowler said the most significant of the three is the acquisition of the group’s first general insurance business — Kennedy & Pollock — which have joined as a ‘tuck-in’ acquisition under its Mildura firm WHK Thomsons.
“This acquisition emphasises our ambition to provide total financial solutions to all our clients, as the importance of insurance is paramount in risk and business management,” Fowler said.
“This is WHK Group’s initial entry into general insurance, and it’s indicative of the attitudes and abilities of both Kennedy & Pollock and WHK Thomsons to lead the way for the group in this new venture,” he said.
The latest acquisitions join WHK Group’s growing list of new business purchases.
Late last year the dealer group cemented its intention for strategic growth with the purchase of a number of accounting, broking and financial services groups both locally and in New Zealand.
These groups included: the purchase of stand-alone firm Sherwin Chan & Walshe, a Wellington-based accounting firm; and further ‘tuck in’ groups Ballarat Wealth Advisers, a Ballarat-based financial planning practice and its accounting group, HMG Accounting; Hunt Frame, a Dandenong-based accounting firm; Atrium, a New Zealand-based accounting firm; Farm, a small accounting firm in Warrnambool; and Jensen Financial Solutions, a small finance broking firm based in Victoria.
In January WHK announced the purchase of another three groups: Horwath Porter Wigglesworth, an Auckland-based accounting firm; Mortgage First, a Victorian-based broking business; and Gibson & Scally, a Queensland-based accountancy group.
When completed, these transactions will increase WHK Group’s total acquired revenue in the current financial year to approximately $22.8 million. The group expects to release its 2006-07 half year results on February 21, 2007.
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