Big Four bank Australia and New Zealand Banking Group [ASX:ANZ] confirmed on Wednesday that it is currently considering the acquisition of accounting software company MYOB.
ANZ shares were flat on the news, with the bank stock down 18% year to date.
Source: Tradingview.com
ANZ affirms its eyes are for MYOB
Last month the Australian Financial Review reported that ANZ had been considering an acquisition of MYOB, a prominent small-business accounting software company.
Today ANZ confirmed it is in discussions with MYOB’s private equity owner Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) about a potential acquisition.
ANZ and KKR are yet to reach an agreement about an acquisition, and ANZ cautioned ‘there is no certainty it will proceed.’
What does MYOB do, and why would ANZ be interested in it?
MYOB is a provider of business management, financial and accounting solutions — one of the biggest providers in Australia.
It provides solutions across the board for SMEs, Enterprise and Accounting Practice customers.
As the AFR’s James Thomson pointed out today:
‘Buying the business – and it must be stressed there is no guarantee that a deal actually occurs – would allow ANZ to get its hands on an ecosystem (or platform) that spans not just accounting, but also payroll, quotes and invoicing, and more than 300 apps from third parties, covering everything from e-commerce to customer relationship management.’
Acquiring MYOB would also give ANZ a swathe of new data the bank can leverage to improve its product offering…not to mention more users to cross-sell products to.
ANZ — when banking met SME
Acquiring MYOB could make ANZ more attractive to small-business owners who may choose ANZ as their one-stop shop for banking and accounting software services.
Will MYOB clients who are with rival banks switch to ANZ if the bank’s acquisition is successful?
Now that’s a key question the market may be pondering in the weeks ahead.
We know it can be a challenge to find opportunities in the current market.
But our small-cap expert Callum Newman thinks there’s still opportunities to be found out there.
His latest report names three battery stocks that he believes have the potential to be the next ‘chosen ones’ by the likes of Tesla for becoming leading battery mineral supply partners in the incoming EV age.
You can find out more by reading the report ‘Elon’s Chosen Ones’.
Regards,
Kiryll Prakapenka,
For Money Morning
