On Wednesday (13 July), ANZ confirmed it is in talks with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) about a potential acquisition of accounting software company, MYOB.
In a statement, the bank said it is yet to reach an agreement with KKR and there is no certainty the acquisition will proceed.
“Should the transaction proceed, it would be subject to regulatory approvals, including from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the New Zealand Overseas Investments Office,” ANZ said.
“ANZ will make an announcement to the market if the negotiations are successfully completed and an agreement is entered into.”
KKR and MYOB are yet to publicly comment on the matter.
The news comes only months after it was announced that some ANZ employees would be making the move to Zurich for new life insurance business, Zurich Assure.
In February, ifa revealed that the life insurance company would be establishing an “internal advice capability through the new business following “ANZ’s decision to focus its financial advice services on high net-worth customers through ANZ Private”.
Customers with existing retail life insurance policies will begin to be serviced from 29 July 2022.
Soon after, ANZ confirmed to ifa that it will not be shutting down its financial planning services, but rather focus on high net-worth customers through ANZ Private.
UPDATE:
On Friday (15 July), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) rejected reports that it had “raised preliminary concerns” regarding the potential acquisition and will now conduct a public review.
“The ACCC has not expressed any view on this possible transaction,” a statement released on Friday read.
“If the transaction proceeds, the ACCV will make a decision on whether a public review will be conducted once it has received a submission from the parties.”
And so continues a long & bleak history of Australian retail banks becoming involved in non-core bsuinesses and ruining then (see financial advice). Time to move to Zero.
Expect a massive spike in Xero’s share price today on this news.
1.33% increase wow massive ! pity they have shed 42% value this year.
No doubt ANZ via MYOB will have access to a whole new world of data. Knowing exactly who you bank with, where your debts are and what you’re spending.
Another disaster waiting to happen. Hands off MYOB.
Whaaat? They just got out of FP and now they’re looking at accounting software? Seems they haven’t learnt a thing. Stick to banking!
That’s really a strange one!!! The current CEO Shayne Elliot had a massive task to clean-up the mess from his predecessor, Mike Smith’s overseas expansion strategy disaster. I feel for the next successor who will have the challenge to disentangle from this distraction if KKR is able to dump this on ANZ.
This is laughable. What is a bank going to know about accounting software. God help us. Off to Xero we go….
They don’t need to know anything. It is all about the information and data they would get from it. This could give ANZ a very big competitive advantage in the business lending space.
This is why I still use the old MYOB desk top software. My business data is my data!