Selfwealth takeover: Bigger bid helps Bell Financial Group beat late AxiCorp stab

Bell Financial Group (ASX:BFG) is now poised to acquire Selfwealth (ASX:SWF) after staving off an eleventh-hour approach from AxiCorp Financial Services that turned the acquisition of the online retail broker into a quickdraw shootout.

Selfwealth has today confirmed its entered into a scheme implementation bid with Bell Financial Group, with Selfwealth valued at $57.7 million in the takeover.

Bell had offered $51 million but was forced to go higher after AxiCorp joined the bidding.

AxiCorp did eventually bow out, but the group’s CEO Rajesh Yohannan was particularly bullish about the buy and lobbed several offers at Selfwealth before conceding.

The deal will see Bell take control of 100 percent of the company at 25cps; a solid 108 percent premium on Selfwealth’s last close price on November 12.

“After careful consideration of the revised Bell proposal, in particular its value and conditionality, Selfwealth considers it is in shareholders’ best interests and accordingly Selfwealth has entered into a scheme implementation deal with Bell,” the online brokerage firm wrote in an ASX statement today.

The deal will, of course, need shareholder approval before being finalised. (The Selfwealth board has already unanimously recommended voting in favour.)

Pending regulatory and court approvals, there will be a scheme meeting next March.

The Selfwealth brand will remain relatively unimpacted by the pending $57.7M takeover, Bell Financial Group chairman Brian Wilson confirmed after the deal was struck, with major plans revolving around “smooth integration” between businesses.

“Our intention… is to further develop the client value proposition which we expect will result in ongoing growth,” Mr Wilson said, adding he hopes there’ll be “minimal client disruption.”

Interestingly, this is actually the second time Selfwealth has gone through a takeover saga – though the first successful one, of course – with online stockbroker Stake offering 17.5c per share for a deal last year. It was turned down.

The company, which was founded by former CBA banker Andrew Ward in 2012, also flirted with a merger with wholesale clearing platform Openmarkets in 2022.

Bell Financial Group last traded at $1.31 after today’s takeover news broke.

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