Criterion from the Oz
"
HUB24 (HUB) $2.67 Praemium (PPS) 31c
At the risk of fanning idle speculation, Criterion suggests Praemium as a potential takeover target following Friday’s mysterious — and largely ignored — bid for HUB24. While not exactly similar, both operate in the financial tech sector as platform providers for wealth managers.
HUB24 on Friday revealed a conditional $140m proposal at $2.75 share cash, most likely from an industry participant. The HUB board is playing it cool, but notes the business had a decent first quarter and enjoys a “significant pipeline of new opportunities”.
Backed by Thorney Investments and Acorn Capital, HUB provides an independent wrap platform and administration tools for financial advisers, accountants and stockbrokers. Praemium offers a management account (SMA) platform by which individuals directly own the assets and thus enjoy more flexibility and transparency.
Praemium on Friday reported a robust September quarter with $445m of gross inflows, taking funds under advice across its local and British platforms to a record $4.1bn.
Praemium lost investor faith after going to Britain far too early, incurring huge losses. According to Morgans analyst Ivor Ries, quarterly fund inflows for the Old Dart remain “well below management aspirations”.
The local business is profitable and Praemium reported overall operating EBITDA of $2.19m for the 2014-15 year. HUB24 lost $4.4m for the year, but funds under advice doubled to $1.7bn.
With banks and other institutions spending hundreds of millions to develop their in-house capacity, picking up Praemium may be a cheaper short cut.
While management has a healthy exposure, the Praemium register is otherwise wide open.
HUB is a
hold, Praemium is a
spec buy."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...566593279?sv=934dbf29ac8e985444263f8ccb654d5b
(20min delay)