8:06 pmMay 6, 2013 Asia SFG Australia Withdraws All-Stock Bid...

8:06 pm
May 6, 2013
Asia

SFG Australia Withdraws All-Stock Bid for WHK Group

By Gillian Tan
SFG Australia Ltd SFW.AU +2.33% has withdrawn an all-stock offer for WHK Group Ltd WHG.AU -4.19% that would have created a financial advisory and wealth management firm with a combined market value of around 760 million Australian dollars (US$779 million), a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

The move comes after WHK cut its earnings forecast for the second half of the fiscal year through June to be 20% lower than the same period last year. Shares in WHK Group have fallen 20% since the downgrade.

WHK claims to be Australia’s fifth-largest accounting firm behind the big four, namely Ernst & Young, PwC, Deloitte and KPMG. It has more than 200,000 clients across Australia and New Zealand. SFG, which focuses on financial advice and wealth management, had A$11.3 billion funds under advice as at Sep. 30.

Both companies requested that trading in their shares be halted Monday ahead of an announcement regarding the status of the proposed merger.

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/05/06/sfg-australia-withdraws-all-stock-bid-for-whk-group/