- MYOB pays NZ$136m for BankLink
- Bank feeds key to success with online accounting
- MYOB seeks closer relationship with accountants
Accounting software company MYOB has bought financial data aggregator BankLink for NZ$136 million. The sale was to be funded by NZ$75 million senior bank debt and NZ$61 million equity funding from MYOB’s shareholder.
The reason for buying BankLink was to improve the company’s position to deliver online accounting software and services, MYOB said.
“This acquisition is a key strategic move that will leverage the strengths of both organisations, and position the new entity to lead the next wave of industry growth – online accounting,” MYOB said in a press release.
BankLink’s close relationship with accountants was another key aspect of the deal. Accountants have played a key role in the move to online accounting software. Online accounting vendor Xero claimed that seven out of 10 sales were through its accounting partners.
“Key to the success of MYOB’s online strategy is its partnership with accountants in practice,” said MYOB CEO Tim Reed in a press release. “The coming together of MYOB and BankLink allows accountants to recommend the most appropriate accounting solution for each and every unique client. In addition, we can now further enhance this partnership by having more team members on the ground focused on accountants in practice and supporting their success.”
The combined company will sell MYOB’s flagship online accounting solution AccountRight Live, its entry level online accounting solution LiveAccounts and BankLink’s market leading accountants’ solution BankLink Practice. All solutions were to be powered by BankLink bank feeds which MYOB said were the most secure and accurate bank feeds available and a competitive advantage over feeds from other suppliers.
“Cloud solutions are replacing desktop applications; bank feeds are a key component of a cloud solution as they are used as source data for the accounts,” Reed said in the release. “The benefits of automatic bank feeds are huge; they significantly reduce the time it takes to do the books. BankLink has proprietary methods of supplying accurate, reliable and secure bank feeds that are more accurate and secure than others.”
The BankLink Service was used by nearly 5,000 accounting practices, and more than 320,000 small businesses throughout New Zealand and Australia. Each month, it securely delivered 13 million customer transactions from more than 100 banks, credit unions, brokers and fund managers.
“The acquisition of BankLink is highly strategic; the competitive advantage provided by their integrated bank feeds is key to MYOB’s cloud offerings. We look forward to further supporting and investing in MYOB’s growth and product development in the coming years,” said Craig Boyce, Bain Capital managing director.
BankLink’s European business was not part of the acquisition. The sale and purchase agreement was subject to a number of conditions including regulatory and third party consents. The acquisition was expected to be completed in June 2013.