The Greek Australian-owned-and-run private equity company, Findex Group, has acquired $200 million company Crowe Horwath.
The publicly listed accounting firm will now fall under the Findex Group banner, and in the process will become a private company, with all major shareholders bought out by Findex.
Findex CEO Spiro Paule says the company is in discussions to acquire Crowe Horwath at 0.50 cents a share, while the company’s major shareholder, Alceon, has entered into an option that will see its 19.87 per cent stake bought for the same amount.
The acquisition is the first publicly listed company Findex has acquired, and will include Crowe Horwath’s network of 110 locations in Australia and New Zealand.
Findex chief information officer Nick Mylonas says while the deal is still underway, Findex will be keeping the offices under the Crowe Horwath name.
“We’ve agreed that we’re going to retain the Crowe Horwath brand, and that those offices will continue to operate in the locations that they operate,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“We don’t have any immediate plans to move or close down any of those offices. It’s a little bit early in the piece to know where the changes might happen but at this early stage we aim to continue the same number of staff.”
The Crowe Horwath acquisition is the second major company Findex has taken on this year, with Centric Wealth now under the Findex banner.
The new acquisition will see Findex take on more accounting power to supplement their own services. While accounting is part of their service, Findex only distributes 20 per cent of their business to it, while Crowe Horwath allocates 80 per cent of their business to accounting.
“We’re actually a wealth advice business which includes accounting,” Mr Mylonas says.
“We see there is an opportunity to offer clients a full suite of service.”
Crowe Horwath is one of the largest accounting companies in Australiasia, and is ranked fifth by size in the market, just outside the ‘big four’.
Findex CEO Spiro Paule says the acquisition is another long-term investment for the company.
“Our corporate history demonstrates we are proven long- term owners and buy businesses with the intention of adding and unlocking further value,” Mr Paule said.
“It will be business as usual for Crowe Horwath clients, but over time we are confident clients will notice and appreciate further enhancement to the already high level of service.”
In the terms of the acquisition, Findex has agreed to pay Crowe Horwath’s debt, which has downgraded the value of the company from $200 million to $137 million.
Findex Group is Australia’s largest non-aligned and privately owned financial advisory company, and has around $8 billion under portfolio management (before the Crowe Horwath acquisition).
The company was started in 1987 by brothers Spiro and Terry Paule as a financial advice company. Four of the six management positions are held by Greek Australians, with Mr Mylonas and Terry Rousso having worked at the company for over 20 years.