SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Sequoia Financial Group Limited (ASX: SEQ) announced the successful acquisition of three inter-related businesses, Informed Investor Pty Ltd, Sharecafe Pty Ltd and Corporate Connect Research Pty Ltd.

The total consideration will be approximately $5.1m with an initial payment of $3m made up of $1.1m cash and 2,720,723 Sequoia shares at $0.70 per share, plus a deferred payment of a further 3,128,831 shares to be issued after 28 February 2023 subject to achievement of performance hurdles.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the close of business on 1 April 2022.

“This acquisition increases the scale of our Direct Division and specifically enhances aspects of our media, research, adviser support and technology platforms, through an increased delivery of premium information and finance news content to the expanding B2C and B2B Sequoia client base,” a statement said.

“Apart from providing significant support to the existing Sequoia network of advisers, it also assists us in developing a digital and educational content platform for all fund managers, ASX listed companies and the broader financial services industry comprising circa 2,000 AFSL holders and 17,000 authorized representatives”.

“It allows us to offer an AFSL holder a white labelled approved product platform specific to their individual approved lists and bespoke requirements. The cost of providing advice has become a core issue for all licensees as demand increases, and this will only continue with the tailwind of $3.5 trillion of intergenerational wealth expected to transfer over the next 25 years”.

The acquisition will be EPS accretive for FY23 with the transaction valuation based on a 5 times FY23 forecast EBITDA.

Informed Investor provides digital tools and content to financial advisers. Informed Investor is a digital content platform used by financial advisers to provide digital profiles of financial products to their clients.

ShareCafe is one of the oldest financial news sites in Australia and has been providing investors with the latest news, independent insights and tools required to make better informed investment decisions for over two decades. ShareCafe is a direct investor platform for product issuers and listed companies, enabling listed companies and product issuers to access a sophisticated investor market in excess of 50k monthly audience.

The corporate connect business is headed by Paul Sanger an investment banking executive with over 30 years of experience including as the head of distribution and corporate access (Asia) for Citi where he managed and maintained a team of 350 staff across 10 countries in public markets. The research business writes commissioned research on behalf of ASX listed companies and uses the ShareCafe platform for its retail distribution.