Euroz to buy Blackswan for $6.7m
Listed WA stockbroker Euroz says Blackswan Equities was a rare, ready-made opportunity to bulk up with a profitable and complementary business.
Talks which began with a conversation over coffee culminated yesterday in an agreement for Euroz to buy the rival firm for stock worth $6.7 million.
"We like the fact that it has always been profitable, same as us . . . and when we got into the numbers it was pretty obvious they were a good outfit," Euroz executive chairman Andrew McKenzie said.
"They're old-fashioned brokers, much like us, focused on clients and quality deals."
Mr McKenzie said Blackswan boasted a strong private client and portfolio administration business, with $1.4 billion under advice for high net-worth WA investors.
The combined group, to be consolidated into Euroz's offices in the Alluvion building, would generate cost savings but he emphasised both were already lean businesses and the tie-up was more about "chasing revenue".
Blackswan chairman and co-founder Tim Lyons said the merged group made for "a more complete" business which would be better placed to take advantage of the inevitable recovery in WA emerging stocks.
"Now's the time you've got to have some faith," Mr Lyons said.
"It's about getting the right opportunities and riding them all the way through."
Under the deal, Euroz will buy out Blackswan's dozen owners with 5.2 million shares, or 3.2 per cent of its expanded capital.
Blackswan's four directors - Mr Lyons, Tony Kenny, Tim Weir and Tom Loh - will join the board of Euroz Securities.
Staff numbers will increase by about 20 to 80, including 35 client advisers and 10 analysts.
Blackswan recorded a net profit of $569,765 on revenue of $9.3 million last financial year. Euroz made $6.3 million off $40.1 million in revenue.
Euroz last traded at $1.295.
