Interesting AFR article last week. Not sure how I missed it. I...

Interesting AFR article last week. Not sure how I missed it. I wouldn’t be surprised if a bid comes out of the strategic review in 2-3 months time. I just hope it’s a reasonable bid around $2.50 if that’s the case and I would at least be able to recoup some of the losses. Article below.

Financial services software giant SS&C Technologies has sent a travelling party of executives to Australia, fuelling expectations that it does not want to be the bridesmaid of Australian fintech M&A for too much longer.

It is understood US-based SS&C’s executives met advisers and industry players in the past week, where talk naturally turned to its M&A plans given its busy Australian schedule in recent years. SS&C Technologies is the world’s biggest hedge fund and private equity administrator.

SS&C has sniffed around a handful of ASX-listed groups, and even got involved in bidding wars for Link Group and GBST holdings, before letting both go to other industry players. The one that’s left, and where Street Talk wouldn’t be surprised to see interest, is at Bravura Solutions, whose shares are down 46 per cent in the past year.

One idea bankers have pitched is to marry up Macquarie Capital-advised Bravura, which sells back-office software to wealth managers and fund administrators, and fellow listed player IRESS, to create a bigger Australian fintech software play that could make about $1 billion in revenue and $200 million or more at the EBITDA line. If nothing else, it could be extremely accretive for IRESS. The group’s shares trade at 16.4 times forecast EBITDA, while Bravura’s are at 7.4 times. The much larger Nasdaq-listed SS&C, for what it is worth, is trading at 10.4 times forecast EBITDA and 4 times forward revenue.

Whether that would work for SS&C, the world’s largest hedge fund and private equity administrator, remains to be seen. The fact its executives made the trip to Australia, though, is a good indication its ambitions didn’t die with snapped up targets like Link and GBST. The whole sector’s been a hot bed of M&A activity globally in the past five years, with the likes of SS&C and FNZ making big moves.The last time we spotted SS&C involved in Australian M&A activity was late 2020 at Link, when it had Citi’s bankers and Allens’ lawyers by its side.