ANZ Bank is in talks over the potential buyout of accounting software group MYOB amid a battle between banks to win lucrative small business clients.
ANZ on Wednesday confirmed it was in discussions with MYOB’s owner, the private equity giant KKR, following a Bloomberg report that said KKR was seeking more than $4 billion for the business.
ANZ is advanced talks to buy accounting software firm MYOB.Credit:Fairfax
“ANZ and KKR are yet to reach agreement in relation to the acquisition and there is no certainty it will proceed,” ANZ said in an ASX announcement, without commenting on the size of the possible deal.
Buying MYOB, which provides digital accounting services to small business, could help ANZ in the industry-wide contest for small and medium-sized customers, a part of the banking market that has been growing quickly as the housing market slows.
Other banks have also been keen to integrate accounting products, which can provide banks with valuable data on business customers as well as deepening their relationships with clients. Westpac last month announced a partnership with MYOB, under which the bank is providing access to the accounting software its customers, while small business banking giant National Australia Bank has a partnership with Xero.
At its most recent results in May, ANZ also announced it was seeking to establish a non-operating holding company, a structure that would allow ANZ to have non-banking businesses within the wider group, without being subject to the same level of regulation. At the time, ANZ said it intended to house technology-based businesses that it acquired or developed in the non-banking group.
ANZ’s confirmation of the buyout talks came after Bloomberg reported KKR was seeking a valuation of more than $4 billion for MYOB, and that discussions with ANZ were at an advanced stage, citing sources who asked not to be identified as the matter remained confidential. The Melbourne-based lender has been in talks for loans to finance the potential transaction, one of the people said.
ANZ has been building up on its balance sheet, partly because the bank is keen to capture new opportunities, its Chief Executive Officer Shayne Elliott said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in May.
Founded in 1991, MYOB provides accounting and management systems with clients in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and other Asian countries, its website shows.
