WT Financial Group Limited (ASX:WTL) (WTL, the Company) is pleased to announce that the Company has entered a Sale and Purchase Agreement (Acquisition) to acquire 100% of the issued capital of Australia's largest privately-owned financial adviser group, Synchronised Business Services Pty Ltd (Synchron).
The Acquisition is highly synergistic and accretive to earnings. On settlement of the Acquisition (Completion), which is scheduled to occur this week, the Company’s B2B operations will encompass Wealth Today; Sentry Group; and Synchron - making WTL the largest independent (non-institutionally-owned, non-product producing) advice network in Australia.
Highlights
* Established in 1998 and headquartered in Melbourne, Synchron is Australia's largest privately-owned national financial adviser group.
* The Acquisition is highly synergistic and accretive to earnings, with WTL providing FY2023 guidance of EBITDA of $7M+ and NPAT of $4M+.
* The Company will update its FY2022 guidance following settlement.
* WTL will emerge as the largest independent (non-institutionally-owned, non-product producing) financial adviser network in Australia - creating significant combined metrics:
-- 600+ total advisers
-- $16Bn+ funds under advice
-- $360M+ in-force annual insurance premium
-- $25M+ new insurance premium sales per annum
* The total vendor consideration for the Acquisition is up to $7.96M, payable over two-years in a combination of cash and shares, and subject to various terms and conditions.
* WTL will assume liabilities of circa $3M and expects to incur transaction and integration costs of between $1-2M bringing the anticipated total value of the acquisition to $12-13M.
* To assist with funding the Acquisition, as announced on 11 March 2022, WTL has completed a placement of 30.5M new shares at $0.10 each to institutional and professional investors to raise $3.05M – the placement is at a significant premium to WTL’s 30-day VWAP – underscoring investor confidence in the Company and the financial advice sector.
* Synchron founders Don Trapnell and John Prossor will continue working in the business with Mr Trapnell assuming the role of chairman of WTL’s Synchron subsidiary.
* WTL will be enhanced through the addition of Synchron’s state manager line, adding significant experience and resources to the broader group operations to support the Company’s advisers across its Wealth Today and Sentry adviser groups.
* WTL will also expand Synchron’s NextGen program across the group. The program, that supports the professional development of new market entrants, has resulted in an average age of 47 for Synchron advisers.
* Synchron advisers will benefit from the rollout of WTL’s adviser education and training programs, its comprehensive practice management tools and programs, and its enhanced risk management framework.
For more information, download the attached file.
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