TA Associates closes in on financial planner roll-up AZ NGA
It could be time for a double celebration at TA Associates’ Hong Kong headquarters. The buyout bigwigs are in final negotiations to acquire Italian-funded accounting and financial advice firm AZ NGA, just two months after being rebuffed by the sellers, sources said on Sunday.
As Street Talk reported at the time, TA Associates put a $600 million indicative bid on the table with hope of walking away with a controlling stake in AZ NGA. That was 15 per cent lower than the number it had been happy to pay before it had studied the books.
AZ NGA was founded by Paul Barrett, who is now the company’s chief executive. Louie Douvis
It looks like AZ NGA has done some soul-searching since then, and is ready to meet TA Associates at a mutually agreeable price. The two camps are in final negotiations and expected to sign a deal shortly. A spokesperson for AZ NGA declined to comment when contacted on Sunday.
Should the deal go ahead as expected, it would be TA Associates’ second win on Australian shores this month. While it has been gunning hard to buy AZ NGA, it has also been active on the sell-side as it searched for a buyer for its insurance roll-up Honan Insurance.
Non-binding indicative bids went in mid-July, with ASX-listed peers PSC and Steadfast Group as well as buyout firms having shown interest. A short pause followed, and Marsh & McLennan emerged as the winner.
AZ NGA was founded in 2015 by Paul Barrett, the former managing director of ANZ’s global advice arm. It has been funded by Milan-listed Azimut, which helps AZ NGA acquire 100 per cent of smaller financial planning firms. It typically pays the firms’ owners for 51 per cent in cash, while the remaining 49 per cent is offered as a scrip swap.
The business has been quietly
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