Australia brokerage firm Bell Financial Group Limited (ASX:BFG) has announced that it has entered into an agreement with SelfWealth Ltd (ASX:SWF) to acquire 100% of Selfwealth’s shares outstanding, for 25 cents for each SelfWealth share by way of a scheme of arrangement.
The consideration represents an implied equity value for SelfWealth of approximately AUD $57.7 million (USD $37 million). SelfWealth shareholders may elect to receive full cash consideration of $0.25 per share, shares of Bell Financial, or a mix of both. The share consideration however is capped at 50% of the total.
To get the deal done, Bell Financial upped the price it was willing to pay for SelfWealth from an earlier offer of 22 cents per share, after leading Australian online broker Axi stepped in with a 23 cents offer for SelfWealth soon after. Axi has apparently decided not to outbid the higher Bell Financial offer.
SelfWealth – which bills itself as Australia’s most popular low-cost trading platform – was founded in 2012, and has been publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange since 2017. In its latest fiscal year (ended June 30, 2024) SelfWealth reported Revenues of AUD $27.6 million, and Net Profit of AUD $3.4 million. SelfWealth has 129,000 Active Portfolios, with Funds under Administration of AUD $10.7 billion.
Bell Financial Group Chairman Brian Wilson said,
“We look forward to working with Selfwealth to ensure a smooth integration of our two businesses with minimal client disruption. Our intention is to maintain the SelfWealth brand and to further develop the client value proposition which we expect will result in ongoing growth.”
The SelfWealth Board has unanimously recommended that SelfWealth shareholders vote in favour of the deal with Bell Financial, at a meeting of SelfWealth shareholders that it is expected to be held in March 2025.
