Melbourne, 10 April 2024 – Findex, Australia’s leading provider of integrated wealth management, advisory and accounting services, has announced its new investment partnership with Australian and New Zealand private equity investment firm Mercury Capital.
Through its market leading Wealth Accounting model, Findex’s mission of providing holistic and integrated services to its private and SME clients is enhanced by the growth-oriented Mercury partnership.
“With over half a million Australians expected to retire in the next five years, but two in three worried about having sufficient retirement funds, this partnership further enhances our ability to respond to the urgent need for cost-effective, high-quality, integrated financial advice across Australia and New Zealand. Our scale and record of outstanding investment performance, delivered through our market leading Wealth Accounting model is expected to be further enhanced by the partnership with Mercury” said Findex Co-CEO, Matt Games.
“This transaction follows more than a decade of dynamic growth for Findex. During this time, we have significantly expanded our accounting footprint and reach coupled with our market-leading wealth management services to over 100 locations in Australia and New Zealand. This new partnership further fuels our ambitions to triple the size of our business over the next five years,” said Games.
The partnership will see Mercury Capital acquire KKR’s approximate 40 percent stake in Findex, providing additional investment capital as well as the appointment of new representatives to the Findex board.
“We were attracted to Findex’s unmatched competitive position in both wealth management and accounting services, and its compelling regional foothold outside metro areas. Findex’s strong growth profile, management capabilities, deep digital investment and low-risk salaried adviser model which brings Accountants and Financial Planners together under one roof creates an exciting opportunity for enhanced, market-leading service provision. It positions Findex to continue to significantly expand its business across Australia and New Zealand,” said Mercury Capital Founder and CEO, Clark Perkins.
“This exciting new relationship with Mercury Capital demonstrates that Findex is comfortable with and adept to partnering with smart capital to better enable Findex to further expand and enhance our best-in-class financial services to a vast demographic of business and private clients which are typically under-served, particularly in regional areas. Our model also provides unparalleled career opportunities, diversity and the most flexible working environment and choice said Findex Founder and Managing Director, Spiro Paule.
“With our focus firmly on customer value and transparency over more than 30 years, Findex’s model of combining best practice wealth management advice with accounting services via the one skilled multi-disciplinary firm is undoubtedly leading the charge in the industry and saving businesses and the people in them significant time and money. This has never, been more critical as cost, skills shortages, and supply chain and disruption issues mount,” added Paule.
Findex is the largest Australian-founded provider of integrated wealth management, advisory and accounting services and has maintained strong market growth, expanding its operations from just 100 to 2,500 staff members across more than 100 locations throughout Australasia over the past decade. The partnership will leverage Mercury Capital’s deep understanding of the Australian and New Zealand markets and their extensive experience working with business owners and management teams to deliver exceptional growth outcomes. The new partnership will focus on building the Findex team and investing further in technology to help grow Findex’s business to its target markets.
The transaction is expected to conclude on 9 April 2024 and will make Mercury Capital and Findex staff and executives the majority owners of Findex’s unique platform with significant unrealised potential.
About Findex
Findex is Australia’s leading provider of integrated wealth management, advisory and accounting services known for its unique Wealth Accounting model, which combines accountants and wealth managers to deliver holistic financial solutions. With a network of 100 offices across Australia and New Zealand, Findex delivers integrated advice that help clients plan with confidence and grow with certainty. For more information, visit findex.com.au.
About Mercury Capital
Established in 2010, Mercury Capital is a Sydney based private equity firm managing over A$2 billion in funds. Mercury focuses on investing in established Australian and New Zealand private businesses. Mercury seek to invest in businesses that are leaders in their industry, possess high quality management teams, have well-developed and scalable systems, and demonstrate the potential to achieve rapid and sustained growth. Mercury Capital has adopted a partnership philosophy which is active and hands-on, working closely with both shareholders and the management team to realise a businesses’ potential. For more information visit mercurycapital.com.au
*Notes
· Largest non-aligned adviser by Funds Under Administration (FUA)
· Findex’s portfolios have consistently outperformed the benchmark since our inception over ten years ago
· Findex’s largest MDA portfolio, Listed Growth (60-80% growth), has outperformed much of its peer universe by 2% p.a. over the past three years (Morningstar Multi-Sector Growth universe).
