Praemium sells international business
Praemium has announced the sale of its international business operations to Morningstar in a move expected to accelerate its growth trajectory in the Australian platform market.
The firm said in the announcement that the transaction value of the sale of its operations in the United Kingdom, Jersey, Hong Kong and Dubai stood at $65.1 million, subject to completion adjustments, and the unlocked capital would allow to focus the financial resources on its core business, and was expected to complete during Q2/Q3 of calendar year 2022.
The firm’s chief executive, Anthony Wamsteker, said that Paremium’s international business was operating at a scale disadvantage to its key competitors.
“Morningstar will bring its global footprint and investment scale to better serve the interests of international clients and better advance the career opportunities of our international employees,” he said.
“Praemium is well positioned in the Australian wealth management industry with platform, non-custodial and SAAS offerings. Following last quarter’s record funds under administration momentum, we continue to see a solid pipeline of inflows and opportunities to support future growth across all our business segments.”
Following completion, the Praemium Board said it planned on returning surplus net proceeds to its shareholders and, given the projected capital and franking credit position post the sale and underlying profitability of the Australian business, it was expected that a dividend policy would be introduced for FY2023 onwards.
Completion of the transaction would be subject to regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and the Jersey Financial Services Commission in Jersey, and other customary conditions. At this stage the parties expect to complete the transaction during Q2/Q3 of calendar year 2022.
AUTHOR
Oksana Patron
Recommended for you
International equity ETFs have recorded their third consecutive month with net inflows above $1 billion, according to Betashares, for advisers looking to capture this growth in client portfolios.
For advisers considering their clients’ fixed income allocations, VanEck research has detailed which elements of fixed income and credit have performed the best since the start of 2024.
There is a role for advisers to include capital securities in portfolios to provide diversification within clients’ fixed income allocations, according to fund manager Wellington Management.
BlackRock’s iShares fixed income ETFs have reached US$1 trillion in assets under management across the globe, a year after the global bond ETF industry hit US$2 trillion.
